NYUIFA LIBRARY
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THE
MANNERS AND CUSTOMS
OF
THE ANCIENT EGYPTIANS.
BY
SIR J. GARDNER WILKINSON, D.C.L , F.R.S., F.R.G.S.,
Vice- Pres. British Archifolngical Association; Hon. Member of the Royal Institute of Brxttsh Architect ^ . Corre.ip
il.ofthe Entoniolof/ical Soc; 31. of the Ethnological Soc. of London ; Hon. Cor. M.R.H.L.; Hon. M. of the
Egvptlan Institute of Alexandria; Hon. il. of the Ethnological and Oriental Societies of America;
Corr. M. of the Bomhar; Branch of the R. Asiatic Soc; Hon. il. of the Egyfitian Soc. uf
Cairo; V.-P. of the Cambrian Arch. Assoc; Corr. M. of the Arch. Soc. of Edin-
burgh; V.-P. of the Lincoln Diocesan Soc; Hon. SI. of the Ethnol. and
Orient. Socs. of Aew York; Hon. .)/. of the Archit. Soc of Oxford;
Hon. M. of the Orient. Soc. of Paris: J/, of the Inst, of Arch.
Corr. of Home ; Corr. M. K. Acad, of Turin ; Corr.
JU. of the K. and I. Acad. < ' I'lfuna, etc.
A NEW EDITION, KEVISED AND CORRECTED
BY SAMUEL BIRCH, LL.D., D.C.L.,
KJCEPER OP THE EGYPTIAN AND ORIENTAL ANTIQUITIES IX THE BRITISH MUSEUM;
PRESIDENT OF THE SOCIETY OF BIBLICAL AKCH.4:0L0Gy, ETC.
ZY THREE VOLUMES. — N 01.. H.
WITH ILLUSTRATIONS.
NEW YORK
DODD, MEAD AND COMPANY
PUBLISHERS -
D
CO^TEKTS.
CHAPTER VII.
Page
Vases of various Kinds — Boxes of the Toilet and others — Substitute for
a Hinge — Parties and Conversation — Preparation for Dinner —
Table brought in — Guests seated at Dinner — Figure of a dead Man
brought in — Dancing and Entertainments — Game of Draughts —
Various Games — Ball — Dwarfs — Wrestling — Fighting with Sticks 1
CHAPTER VIII.
The Chase — Animals — Dogs — Fowlers — Fishermen — Hippopotamus
— Crocodile — The Tentyrites 78
CHAPTER IX.
Arts and Manufactures — Glass — Linen — Dyeing — Rope-making — The
Papyrus — Leather-cutters — Potters — Cabinet-makers and Carpen-
ters— Makers of Chariots and Coffins — Coopers — Boats and War-
galleys — Tin and other Metals — Gold Mines — Gold Working and
Gilding 136
CHAPTER X.
Style of Art among the Egyptians — Names of early Kings : Cheops, or
Suphis, and others — Some of the Subjects of the Sculptures in the
Temples — Colors — Relief and Intaglio — Painting — Brick Pyramids
— The Arch — Quarries — Large Blocks of Stone moved — Bellows,
Siphons, Inventions — Dresses — Wigs — Women's Dresses and Jew-
ellery— Eyes painted — Baths — Medical men — Exvotos . . . 262
CHAPTER XL
Richness of Egypt — An agricidtural and manufacturing Country — Origin
of Mensuration and Geometry — Astronomical Calculations connected
with the Rise of the Nile — Year of 365 Days — Sothic Year of Se.'i^
ill
IV
CONTENTS.
Page
Days — Flocks — Sheep kept for their Wool — Former Advantages of
Egypt in Manufactures — Abundance of Produce — Land Measures —
Weights — Irrigation — The Inundation — Mode of cultivating the
Land — Plough — Iloe — Swine and Cattle to tread in the Seed —
Sowing — Soil of Egypt — The Nile, its Branches — Dressing of Lands
— Different Crops — Cultivation of Wheat, gathering the Com, and
threshing — Inundation — Different Levels of Egypt — Edge of Desert
cultivated — Harvest Home and other Festivals of the Peasants —
Care of Animals — Veterinary Art — Eggs hatched by artificial Means
361
CHAPTER X::i
Religious Opinions of the Egyptians — The Greeks borrowed many of their
Notions on Religion from Egypt — The Idea of the Deity entertained
by the Priests different from that taught to the Uninitiated — Nature
of the Gods — Numbers — The Deity manifested upon Earth — Theo-
ries in Greek Writers — The great Gods — Triads ....
454
Head of Ibi.
d Bos
British Museum.
LIST OF THE PLATES, YOL. 11.
{Those illustrations ivliich have an asterisk prefixed are not drawn
by Sir J. Gardner Wilkinson.
Page
Boats with colored sails, from the Tomh of Ranieses III. at
Thebes {colored) Frontispiece
A Plan of Thebes To face 1
Capitals of columns {colored) ... " 288
Sections to illustrate the levels of Egypt and its deserts " 433
Egyptian numerals and fractions . . . . '* 493
Plate XIII.
u
XIV.
a
XV.
n
XVI.
LIST AND EXPLANATION OF THE WOODCUTS.
Page
* Head of the god Bes. British Museum iv
Seated figure of an officer. British Museum xii
Vignette G. — The palace-temple of Rameses the Great, generally called
the Memnonium, at Thebes, during the inundation .... 78
Vignette H. — Modern boats of the Nile. On the opposite bank is a
whirlwind of sand 136
Vignette I. — Tomb at Saqqara, arched with stone, of the time of Psam-
matichus I., whose name occurs on the roof to the left and other
places 262
Vignette K. — Machine used as a harrow after the land is ploughed.
Heliopolis — Cairo in the distance ....... 361
Vignette L. — Pavilion of Rameses III. at Medeenet Haboo _ , . . 454
No.
207. The two colossi of Thebes . , o 1
268. Gold vases of the time of Thothmes III., 1490 B.C. Thebes . . 2
269. Bags, probably containing precious stones, tied up and sealed. Thebes 3
270. Vases, with one and two handles 4
271. Vases ornamented with one and two heads, or the whole animal.
Fig. 1, with head of gazelle; fig. 2, with foxes; fig. 3, with heads of
the ibex. Thebes .5
272. Vases richly ornamented with animals' heads and figures of captive
Pulusata. Thebes .6
273. Vases with the head of a bird, Typhonian monster, and Kumation
moulding. Thebes > .... 7
274. Various vases. From the paintings of Thebes ..... 7
vi LIST AND EXPLANATION
No. Page
275. Bronze and stone vases. From the scniptvres at Thebes and the
British Museum 8
276. Bronze vases and culinary utensils. From the British and Berlin
3Iuseums and Sculj)tures at Thebes 9
277. Bronze vase in the British Museum ... ... 10
278. Large bronze vase brought from Thebes, now in the British Museum . lU
279. Glass bottle. Thebes 11
280. Alabaster and porcelain vases. Thebes, Alnwick, and other places . 12
281. Alabaster, porcelain, and ivory vases 12
282. Box with figure of the god Bes. Ih-itish Museum .... 13
283. Box with a long hardle, ornamented with papyrus-flowers. British
Museum 14
284. Box with female playing on a guitar, and papyrus-flowers; showing
the lid open. Berlin Museum 14
285. Wooden box or saucer without cover. British Museum . . .15
286. Other open boxes, whose form is taken from the oval of a king's
name. Fig. 1, cartouche. Fig. 2, woman swimming, holding bowl
in shape of cartouche. Alnwick Castle and Leyden Muscwn . . 15
287. Box in form of a fish, with turning lid. Mr. SaWs Collection . . 16
288. Box in shape of trussed goose, with and without its cover. Museum
of Alnwick Castle 16
289. Boxes in form of geese. British and Leyden Museums ... 16
290. Box in shape of a fish, one part open and one covered. British Museum 16
291. Box in shape of a gourd, with the lid turning, as usual, on a pin.
British Museum 16
292. A box with (.%s- 1, 3) and without lid (.%. 2) 17
293. A box with devices carved in relief, divided into cells (.%• !)•' Fig. 2,
the lid. British Museum 17
294. Sections of a box found at Thebes . IS
295. Terra-cotta bottle, perhaps used by painters for holding water, and
carried on the thumb. BritisJi Museum 19
296. Ladies at a party, talking about their earrings. Thebes ... 21
297. Butchers killing (Jig. 2) and sharpening their knives {Jigs. 1, 3) . 26
298. Peculiar joint of meat from an ancient and modern Egyptian table . 28
299. An ox and a bird place'd entire on the altar 29
300. An Egyptian kitchen. From the tomb of Eameses III. at Thebes . 32
301. Cooks and confectioners. In the tomb of Barneses HI. at Thebes . 34
302. Cooking geese and different joints of meat. Tomb near the Pyramids 35
303. A party of guests entertained with music and the dance. From
Thebes, and now in the British Museum 37
304. A black {fig. 1) and a white slave {fig. 2) waiting upon a lady {fig. 3)
at a party. Thebes 38
305. A party of guests, to whom wine, ointment, and garlands are brought.
From Thebes, and now in the British Museum 39
306. Drinking-cups 42
307. The table brought -in with dishes upon it. Figs. 1 and 2, bearers.
Tombs near the Pyramids 43
308. A cake of presei-ved dates found at Thebes 43
309. A dinner-party. Tombs near the Pyramids 44
310. Ivory and bronze spoons. Berlin Museum and Thebes ... 45
OF THE WOODCUTS. vii
No. Page
311. A wooden spoon. Britisli MuseiDn 45
312. Wooden {Ji<j>i. 1, 2) and ivory spoons (Jig. 3). British Museum . 46
313. Alabaster shell and spoon. Museum of Alnwick Castle . . .46
314. Bronze (./lys. 1, 2, 4) and wooden simpula {Jig. 3). Berlin Museum . 47
315. Figure of a mummy in the form of Osiris brought to table and shown
to the guests (Jig. 2). Fig. 1, shrine. Fig. 3, mummy on bier . 51
316. Women tumbling and performing feats of agility. Fig. 1, ((, bending
back; h, touching ground with hands; c, completing the figure.
Fig. 2, «, tm-ning head over heels; b, recovering position. Fig. 3,
a and h, two tumbling. Beni-Hasscin .54
317. Playing at mora and odd and even. Fig. 1, a and 6, players. Fig. 2,
cZ and e, players ; c, vase. Thebes 55
318. Draughtsmen. British Museum. Dr. Abbott's Collection . . . 56
319. Game of draughts. Benl-Hassan (Jig. 2) and Thebes (Jig. 1) . .57
320. Wooden draught-boards 58
321. Fig. 1, Rameses III. inlaying at draughts. Fig. 2, seated on a chair
on the principle of our camp-stools. Thebes .59
322. Fig. 1, Rameses III. playing at draughts: a, goddess or daughter
holding draught; b, draught table; c, king's footstool; d. Rameses
III.; e, another daughter. Fig. 2, Rameses caressing a female (g);
f, chair 60
*323. Playing at a game called the Yase. Saqqdra ... .61
324. A game perhaj^s similar to the kollabismos of the Greeks. Figs, a
and c, questioners; 6, player answering 61
325. A game with a hoop. Figs. 1 and 2, players; a and c, liooked sticks;
b, hoop. Beni-Hassan . ■ 62
326. Dice found in Egypt. F/r/.s. 1, 2, 4, convex side; ^^r/. 3, cubical. Ber-
lin Museum 62
327. Wooden dolls. British Museum 64
328. Children's toys. Leyden Museum 64
329. Game of ball, played as a sort of forfeits. Fig. 1, player throwing
ball. Fig. 2, catching the same. Beni-Hassan . . . .65
330. Throwing up several balls. Fig. 1, catching ball. Figs. 2, 3, ex-
changing balls. Fig. 4, catching three balls. Beni-IIassan . . 65
331. Different positions in the game of ball. Figs. 1, 2, jumping. Fig. 3.
standing. Figs. 4-6, one leg raised. Beni-Hassan .... 66
332. Balls found in Egypt. Fig. 1, leather ball. Fig. 2. porcelain ball,
dark and light blue. British Museum 67
333. Men swinging women round by the arms. Figs. 1, 3. women swing-
ing. Fig. 2, men holding. Beni-Hassan 68
334. Rising from the ground, as they held each other. Figs. 1. 2, men
seated back to back. Beni-Hassan 68
335. Throwing knives into a wooden block. Fig. 1, striking with knife.
Figs. 2, 3, holding knives; a, block. Fig. 4, man hurling two
knives. Fig. 5, man holding knife in block (b). Beni-Hassan . 69
336. Conjurers, or thimble-rig. Fig. 1, man placing cover. Fig. 2, hold-
ing cover. From Bosellini 70
337. Dwarfs and deformed persons. Fig. 1, dwarf. Fig. 2, deformed.
Beni-Hassan ......... .70
338. Some of the positions of wrestlers. Beiii-Hassan .... 71
yiii LIST AND EXPLANATION
No. Page
339. Singlestick. From Hosellini 72
340. Raising weights. Fifjs. 1, 2, raising weights from the ground; Jifj. 3,
holding weight in the air. From RoseUini 73
341. Boatmen fighting with sticks. Tombs near the Pyramuls ... 74
342. Man fighting with a bull. Fhjs. 1, 3, bulls. Fvj. 2, man driving
back bull. Bcni-Hassan 7-5
343. A bull-fight. Fiy. 1, bull goring. Fi</. 2, gored bull. Fl'j. 3, man
leading bull {Jig. 4). Thebes 75
344. A bull-fight. Fl<js. 1 and 4, men urging bulls. Figs. 2 and 3, bulls
fighting. Thebes 76
345. A bull-fight. Fiys. 1, 4, bull-fighters. Figs. 2, 3, bulls' horns locked.
Beni-Hussan 77
346. Hyena caught in a trap. Thebes 78
347. Bringing young animals to stock the preserves. Tomb near Pyramids 82
348. Gazelles and other animals belonging to the preserves. Fig. 1, man
carrying a hedgehog (a) and hare ib). Fig. 2, gazelle suckling fawn.
Fig. 3, man carrying three young gazelles (c); d, erased. Tomb
near Pyraniids S3
349. Marking cattle with a hot iron. Thebes 84
350. Huntsman carrying home game with coupled dogs. Thebes . . 86
35L Bringing home the live game, a gazelle, porcupines, and hare. Beni-
Hassan 86
352. Catching a gazelle with the noose. Beni-Hassan .... 87
353. Catching a wild ox with the noose or lasso. Beni-Hass(tn ... 87
354. Hunting with a lion. Fig. 1, hunter. Figs. 2, 4, trees. Fig. 3,
dorcas. Fig. 5, lion. Fig. 6, ibex. Beni-Bassan . . . . SS
355. A chasseur shooting at the wild oxen, accompanied by his dog, Beni-
Hassan . 89
3.56. Animals from the sculptures. Thebes and Beni-Bassan ... 90
357. A chase in the desert of the Thebaid. Thebes 92
358. Monsters in the paintings of Beni-Hassan and Thebes. Fig. 1, winged
goat. Fig. 2, snake-headed lion. Fig. 3, gryphon. Fig. 4, kintl of
dog. F^Vy. 5, hawk-headed female dog with lotus tail. Fk/. 6, gryphon 93
359. Various kinds of dogs. Fig. 1, hound. Fig. 2, mastiff. Fig. 3,
tm-nspit. Figs. 4, 5, fox-dogs. Figx. 0, 7, two varieties of grey-
hound. From the Scidptiires 99
360. Pigs, rarely seen in the sculptures. Thebes 100
361. Fishing and fowling scenes. Thebes 102
362. Bird-traps. Beni-Bassan 103
363. A sportsman using the throw-stick. Thebes . . ■ . . 104
364. Mode of carrying a live bird. Ley den Museum 106
.365. Fowling scene and spearing fish with the bident. Thebes . . .107
.366. A sportsman using the throw-stick. British ifuseum . . .106
.367. Clap-nets. From the Scnlptures HO
368. Some of the birds of Egypt. Beni-Bassan and Tombs near Pyramids 112
369. Some of the Fauna of Egypt. Beni-Bassan and the Tombs near
the Pyramids l-''^
370. An EcjT)tian gentleman fishing. Fig. 1. fish. Fig. 2, lines. Fig. 3,
other kinds of fish. Fig. 4, pond. Fig. 5, mat for feet of angler.
Thebes . . . . 115
OF THE WOODCUTS ix
No. Page
371. Fishing with ground-bait. Beni-Hassan 116
372. A sort of landing-net. Thebes 117
373. Bringing in fisli, and opening tliem, preparatory to their being salted.
Figs. 1, 2, cutting fish; a, b, d, fish cut up; c, pot. Figs. 3, 4,
men carrying fish (e, /, g) suspended to pole. Tomb near the
Pyramids 118
374. Another mode of carrying large fish. Fig. 1, man carrying silurus.
Fig. 2, man carrying a mormyrus. Fig. 3, man carrying a large
carp. To)ub near tlie Pyramids 119
375. Attendant carrying a whip or corbdg. Thebes 127
376. Spearing the hippopotamus 128
377. Spear used in the chase of the hippopotaums. Thebes . . . 129
378. A reel held by an attendant. Beni-Hassan 129
379. Sacred tamarisk of Osiris 135
380. Glass-blowers. Figs. 1, 2, 5, glass-blowers; a, the furnace; bb, blow-
pipes with glass at end. Figs. 3, 4, blowing a glass vase {d). Beni-
Hassan and Thebes 140
381. Glass bottles, and a bead with the name of an ancient queen . . 141
*382. Bottle of light-blue glass, inscribed with the name of Thothraes III.
British Museum 142
383. Glass bottles covered with wicker-work and papyrus, and a piece of
cloth witli a blue border. Harrow Museum 152
384. Chinese bottles found in Egyptian tombs 153
385. A guard apparently with a lantern. Tel el Amdrna .... 157
386. Men engaged in spinning and making a sort of network. Fig. I. man
spinning; a, pole and vase. Figs. 2, 3, men netting; b, stand; c,
net. Fig. 4, weaver; d d, i i, pegs for fixing frame; e, /, pattern
completed; g, h, woof 170
387. A piece of cloth on a frame, and a loom. Fig. 1, giving orders. Fig.
2, weaver; a, frame; b, woof; c, warp; d, frame; e, spindle; /,
weight; g, h, i, parts of the loom; k, shuttle; n, o, p, warp; I, m,
men assisting. Eileithyia and Thebes 171
388. Spindles. British and Berlin Museums 172
389. Preparing the flax, beating it, and making it into twine and cloth.
Beni-Hassan 173
390. A wooden comb found \\ith some tow. Berlin Museum . . . 174
391. Netthig needles and wooden plane. From Thebes .... 175
*392. Wooden reel with thread, inscribed with the name of Ai, of the 18th
Dynasty. Leyden Museum 176
393. Cutting and twisting thongs of leather, and carpenters . . . 178
394. Currier holding a strap of leather with his toes while cutting it.
Thebes 187
395. Sandal-makers, and men polishing a column. Thebes . . . 188
396. Fullers. Fig. 1. female fuller. Fig. 2, man fulling. «, b, stands;
c, water and channel; d, stone; e, cloth;/, vases of water. Beni-
Hassan 190
397. Potters making earthenware vases. Beni-Hassan .... 192
398. Veneering and the use of glue. Thebes . . . . ■ . . 199
399. Different boxes 200
400. An Ethiopian princess travelling in a plaustrum. Thebes . . . 202
X LIST AND EXPLAXATIOX
No. Paoe
401. Pounding various substances in stone mortars with metal pestles.
Thebes 204
402. Ribs of a boat vQg
403. Making boat of papj-rus 208
404. Boats with embroidered sails of many colors 209
405. Funeral boat or hariti, with shrine 211
406. Pleasure-boat towed round a pond. Thebes 212
407. Boats for carrying cattle and goods on the Nile. Thebes . . .213
408. A boat with the mast and sail taken down, having a chariot and
horses on board. Eileithyia 210
409. War-galley, the sail being pulled up during action. Thebes . . 220
410. Large galley of forty-four oars and double mast. Kom el Ahmar . 221
411. Boat of the Nile; showing how the sail w^as fastened to the yards, and
the nature of the rigging. Thebes 224
412. Pulley. Museum at Leyden 225
413. Goldsmiths. Beni-IIassan 234
414. Goldsmiths. Figs. 1-4, men sifting gold in cloths (b and d); a, c,
cranks or stands; e, stand;/, back of collar; g, collars; h, box; i,
mat; A;, unknown object. Thebes 235
415. Blowpipe with a small fireplace with checks to reflect the heat. «,
furnace; b, pinchers; c, blowpipe; d, workman. Thebes . . 235
416. Golden baskets represented in the tomb of Rameses III. Fig. 1,
ornamented with gryphons; Jig. 2, with goats and plants; Jig. 3, with
royal name. Thebes 236
417. Wooden hoes. Fig. 1, with recurved handle; Jig. 2, with straight
handle. Berlin Museum 252
418. Vases ornamented with plates of metal. Fig. 1, jug. Fig. 2, goblet.
Fig. 3, crater with fleurettes and ornament at foot. Fig. 4, crater
with fleurettes. Thebes 258
418«. Flint knives. Fig. 1, knife or flake. Fig. 2. knife. Berlin Museum 261
419. Xames of Shufu, Suphis, or Cheops, Shafra or Kephren. and of the
city of Memphis. Tombs near the Pyramids ..... 273
420. Names of ancient kings. Tombs near the Pyramids .... 274
421. Figures of kings wearing the crowns of Upper and Lower Egypt, with
the names of Ramai and Papi. Eossayr road 276
422. Section of one of the southern grottoes of Beni-Hassan . . . 292
423. Sections of one of the northern grottoes of Beni-Hassan . . . 293
424. Artists painting on a board and coloring a figure. Ihiii-IhiNsan . 294
425. A scribe writing on a tablet, with his cases for holding writing
materials, a, sheet of papyrus ; /;, palette. Thebes .... 296
426. A scribe with his pen behind his ear. o, blank papyrus; b, jar with
fluid; c, palette; d, papyrus inscribed. Thebes .... 206
427. Vaulted rooms and arched doorway of crude bricks at Thebes; imita-
tions of arches, and mode of commencing a (juarry .... 300
428. Removal of a stone from the quarries of El ^Nlaasara .... 302
429. Mode of transporting a large colossus. Grotto at Dayr E'' Shake . 305
430. Masons levelling and squaring a stone. Thebes 310
431. Large granite colossus which masons are polishing. Thebes . .311
432. Bellows. Thebes 312
433. Siphons used in the year 1450 B.C. Thebes 314
OF THE WOODCUTS. xi
No. Page
434. Circle illustrating divisions of time 319
435. Men's dresses 322
436. Dresses of priests. Thebes 324
437. Princes and children. Thebes 325
438. Dress of the king 327
439. Head-dresses 328
440. Front and back of an Egyptian wig. British Museum . . . 329
441. Wig. Berlin Museum 330
442. Women carrying their children in a funeral procession. Fig. 1, child.
Fig. 2, mother. Figs. 3. 4, carrying children before. Fig. 5, child
carried behind. Thebes 3-34
443. Sandals and shoes found in Egypt . 335
444. Sandals. Berlin Museum 336
445. Dresses of women 338
446. Head-dress of a lady, from a mummy-case 339
447. Hands of a wooden figure on lid of a mummy-case. Fig. 1, left hand
with rings. Fig. 2, right hand. British Museum .... 341
448. Kings, signets, bracelets, and earrings 342
449. Various necklaces from the Leyden Museum 344
450. Combs found at Thebes 347
451. Boxes, or bottles, for holding kohl, for staining the eyelids . . 348
452. Needles, pins, and earrings 349
453. Metal mirrors. British Museum . 350
454. 455. Other metal mirrors „ . . 351
456. Walking-sticks found at Thebes 351
457. Priests and other persons of rank walking with sticks. Fig. 1, per-
sons of rank with sticks. Fig. 2, persons of rank with hooked
sticks. Figs. 3, 4, priests with sticks. Thebes 3,52
458. A lady in the bath, with her attendants. Thebes .... 353
459. Barbers. Figs. 1, 4, barbers. Fig.<i. 2, 3, persons having their heads
shaved. Beni-Hassan 357
460. Exvotos 3,58
*461. Sarcophagus with the goddess Xut on the breast .... 359
462. Topographical plan of the Pyramids of Gizeh 360
463. The twelve Egj'ptian months ........ 373
464. Sowing. Figs. 1-3, 5, drivers. Fig. 4, goats treading in seed. Fig.
6, sower. Tombs near the Pi/ramids 390
465. Ploughing and hoeing. Beni-Hassan 391
466. Yoke of an ancient plough found in a tomb. Collection oj
S. D' Anastasy 392
467. Wooden hoes 393
468. Hoeing, sowing, and felling trees. Thebes 394
469. Ploughing, sowing, and reaping. Tombs of the Kings . . .396
470. Plants from the sculptures. Thebes ....... 413
471. Harvest scene. Thebes .... ... 419
472. The tritura, with oxen. Thebes . 420
473. Song of the threshers to the oxen. Eileithyia ..... 421
474. Harvest scene. Thebes .... 422
475. Tritura, or threshing and winnowing. Thebes ..... 423
476. "Wheat bound in sheaves. Thebes ....... 424
477. Oxen sometimes driven round the heap. Thebes ... 424
Xll
LIST AND EXPLANATION OF TUE WOODCUTS.
No.
478.
479.
480.
481.
482.
483.
484.
485.
486.
487.
488.
489.
490.
491.
492.
494,
494,
495,
Page
Gathering llie doom and wheat. Thebes 427
Stripping off the grain of the dooni. Eileithyia .... 428
Cattle rescued from a sudden inundation. Beni-Hassan . . . 429
A deformed oxherd. Tombs near the Pyramids .... 444
Giving an account to the scribes of the stock on the estate. Thebes . 44»
Herdsmen giving an account of the cattle. British Museum ; from
Thebes 446
Cattle, goats, asses, and sheep, witli tlieir numbers over them. To)ub
near the Pi/ramids 447
Geese brought and numbered. British Museum ; from Thebes . . 448
Modern ovens for liatching eggs 450
Herdsmen and poulterer treating sick animals and geese. Beni-
Eussan 452
Ptolemy prostrate before Isis 453
Sacrificial parts of animals 458
Wall-painting from a tomb. Fir/s. 1-.3, vases covered Avith papyrus
flowers. Fig. 5, tables with offerings. Fig. 6, wine vases on stands
covered with flowers. Fig. 7, part of seated figure .... 459
Offerings on a basket or mat 460
Men bringing head, haunch, and some other object. Fig. 1, man
with head and haunch. Fiy. 2, man holding three sticks, head, and
some other object 460
Sacrificial food. Figs. 1, 2, gourds. Fig. 3, radish. Fig. 4, carrot . 461
Stone representing a triad. British Museum 514
Offerings of onions made by a priest to his deceased parents . . 515
Se.ited figure of an nflicer.
British Museum^
THE
ANCIENT EGYPTIANS,
No. 267.
The two colossi of Thebes.
CHAPTER VII.
Vases of various Kinds — Boxes of the Toilet and others— Substitute for a Hiuge —
Parties ami Conversation — Preparation for Dinner — Table brought in — Guests
seated at Dinner — Figure of a dead Man brought in — Dancing and Entertainments
— Game of Draughts — Various Games — Ball — Dwarfs — Wrestling — lighting
with Sticks.
Having concluded the preceding chapter witli the arrival of a
party, and the introductory custom of welcoming the guests with
refreshments and music, I proceed to describe the vases placed
in the apartments for the purpose of ornament, or used on those
occasions ; which, as I have already observed, were of hard stone,
alabaster, glass, ivory, bone, porcelain, bronze, silver, or gold :
the lower classes, contented with those of humbler materials,
having an inferior kind of glazed pottery, or common earthen-
ware.
Many of their ornamental vases, as well as those in common
use, present the most elegant forms, wliich would do honor to
the skill of a Greek artist, the Eygptiaiis frequently disi)laying,
in these objects of private luxury, the taste of a highly-refined
people : and so strong a resemblance do they bear to the pro-
ductions of the best epochs of ancient Greece, both in their
VOL. II. 1
THE ANX'IEXT EGYPTIAX:S.
ICuAP. VIL
sliape and in the fancy devices which adorn them, that some might
even imagine them borrowed from Greek patterns. But they are
}iurely Egyptian, and were universally adopted in the valley of
the Nile long before the graceful forms we admire were known
in Greece : a fact invariably acknowledged by those who are
acquainted with the remote age of Egyptian nronuments, and the
period when the paintings representing them were executed in
the tombs or temples of the Theba'id.
Some, indeed, of the most elegant date in the early age of
the third Thothmes, a monarch who appears to have lived about
the year 1490 before our era, and whom I assume to be the
Pharaoh of the Jewish Exodus: and we not only admire their
forms, but the richness of the materials of which they were made,
the colors and the hierogylphics themselves showing them to
S\\\\\\\\\\\\\'\\MII//l/</fi(i////////7'
\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\i////////Mr
K
No. 268.
Gold vases of the time of Thothmes III. 1490 B.C.
Thebes.
have been of gold and silver, or of this last, inlaid with the more
precious metal. ^
Those of bronze, alabaster, glass, porcelain, and even of
ordinary pottery, were also deserving of admiration, from the
beauty of their, shapes, the designs which ornamented them, and
the superior c|uality of their materials ; and gold and silver cups
were often beautifully engraved, and studded with precious
stones. Among these we readily distinguish the green emerald,
the puri)le amethyst, and other gems; and when an animal's
head adorned their handles the eyes were frecpiently composed
' It will be seen from the tomb of
Eekhmara that vases of this shape came
from the Kef.t, or Phfpiiicia, ami the Rnt-
en-nii, or Syrians Tliey were probalily
the cclebratecl silver plate of Siilon.
Amono:st the shapes of the Phrpnician
vases may be reo.o<inized the clei;ant proto-
types of the Greek amphoreiis, hrater,
oenochoe, and rhyta, in shape of the heads
of lions, bulls, calf, and eajjle (mistaken
for a cock, but exactly like the Assj'rian
representation of the head of that bird on
the sculptures from Nimroud). The Rnt-
en-nu brin;j also a vase in shape of a
human hand, also a rhyton, which was
formerly mistaken for a plove. Similar
vases are mentioned in the Annals of
Thotliinos III., as also a ' silver jug of the
make of the Kefau,' or the Phcenicians.
(' Records of the Past,' ii. p. 27, pi. v.) —
S. B.
Cpiap. vir. 1
VASES.
Ko. 269. Bags, jirobably containing
precious stones, tieil up
ami sealed. ThebKS.
of them, except when enamel, or some colored composition, was
employed as a substitute.
That the Egyptians made great use of precious stones ^ for
their vases, and for women's necklaces,
rings, bracelets, and other ornamental
[)urposes, is evident from the paintings
at Thebes, and from the numerous
articles of jewelry discovered in the
tombs ; they were among the presents
brought by the conquered nations
tributary to the Egyptians ; and their
value and nature are indicated by the
hieroglyphics accompanying them, as well as by the care with
which they are tied up in bags,^ and secured with a seal.
Many of the bronze vases found at Thebes and in other parts
of Egypt are of a quality which cannot fail to excite admiration,
and prove the skill possessed by the Egyptians in the art of
working and compounding metals. We are surprised at the
rich, sonorous tones they emit on being struck, the fine polish
of which they are frequently susceptible, and the high finish
given them by the workmen : nor are the knives and daggers
made of the same materials less deserving of notice ; the elastic
spring they possessed, and even retain to the present day, being
such as could only be looked for in a blade of steel. I believe
the exact proportions of the copper and allo3'S, in the different
specimens preserved in the museums of Europe, have not yet
been ascertained ; but it would be curious to know their com-
position, particularly that of the interesting dagger of the Ber-
lin Collection, which is as remarkable for the elasticity of its
blade as for the neatness and perfection of its finish.^ This
part of the subject, however, properly relates to the working
of metals, which I shall have occasion hereafter to notice ; I
therefore return to the Egyptian vases.
Some vases had one, others two handles ; some were orna-
mented with the heads of wild animals, as the ibex, orvx, or
1 Rather harder than precious stones :
cornelian, lapis lazuli, Amazon stone,
jasper, and their imitations, beinw princi-
pally employed, but no transparent precious
stones. — S. I?.
2 These hajTs were called arb, and held
frold dust rather than precious stones,
wliich were usually piled up in baskets or
trays. — S.B.
3 Vauquelin analyzed the bronze of a
dagger in the Passalacqua Collection, now
in tlie Berlin Museum. The quantity sent
was so small that he could not detect any
tin. That of a mirror contained copper 85,
tin 14, iron 1. (Passalacqua, 'Catalogue
raisonne',' 8vo. Berl. 1826, p. 238.)
THE ANCIEXT EOYPTIAXS.
IClIAP. VI[.
No. 270.
16 17
Vases with one and two handles.
Figs. 1. 2. Earthenware vases found at Thebes.
3. IJronze vase. Pifj. 4. Rronze vase.
5. The same seen from above, showing the' top of the handle in shape of a flower of the
papyrus.
6 to 19. From the paintings of Thebes.
Chap. VII. 1
VASES OF VARIOUS FORMS.
gazelle; others had a head on either side, — a fox, a cat, ur some-
thing similar ; and many were ornamented with horses' heads.
No. 271. Vases ornamented witli one and two Leads, or the whole auiiiial. Thebes.
Fit/. 2 has the the word ' gold ' upon it.
a whole quadruped, a goose's head, figures of captives, or fancy
devices. Many of these last were extraordinary and monstrous,
6
THE ANCIENT EGYPTIANS.
IChap. YII,
presenting nothing to admire, except the brilliancy of their
colors, when made of porcelain, or the richness of their
materials, when of gold, inlaid with stones ; and the head of a
Typhonian ^ figure ^ sometimes served for the cover of a vase, as-
1 It is remarkable that the name ol'
Typhon, the evil deity, is retained in the
Arabic word Tuphdn', ' the delutre.' [Tlie
actual representation is that of the <xoil
ISes, or Bessa, and two snakes : this deity
is supposed to have been of Asiatic origin.
The head on No. 1. is rather that of a
frrvphon. — !S. B.]
'-^ Woodcut No. 273, fi/. 2.
Chap. VIL!
ORNAMENTED VASES.
it often did for the support of a mirror, which daily displayed the
beauty of an Egyptian lady. Many, too, of the ordinary forms
No. 273. Fig. 1. Vase, with head of a bird as a cover. Thebes.
2. With liead of ja Typhonian monster.
3. A golden vase, without handles; the border with the Kumatiou moulding.
of their vases do not claim our admiration, either for neatness
or symmetry, and they are occasionally as devoid of taste as
No. 274. Figs. 1, 2. Vases of an early period. Fig. 4. Drinking-cup of p(jrcelain.
3. Vase on a stand. 7. Bronze vase, bound with gold.
From the paintings of Thebes.
8
THE ANCIENT EGYPTIANS.
I Chap. YII.
the wine bottles and flower-pots of an English cellar and
conservatory.
Some had a single handle fixed to one side, and were in
shape not unlike our cream jugs,^ ornamented with the heads of
oxen, or fancy devices: others were of bronze, bound with gold,
having handles of the same metal; and many depended on
No. 275. Fig. 1. Bronze vase brought hy me from Thebes, now in the British Museum.
2. Showing how the handle is tixeil.
3. Alabaster vase from Thebes, of the time of Necho II., in the British
^Museum.
4. Vase at Berlin of cut glass.
5. Stone vase.
6 to 9. From the sculptures of Thebes.
accidental caprice. Several vases had simple handles or rings
on either side ; others were destitute of these, and of every ex-
terior ornament: some again were furnished with a single ring,
attached to a neat bar,^ or with a small knol),^ projecting from
1 Woodcut No. 274, figs. 1, 2. 1, 2, beakers or drinking vessels, like the
2 Woodcut No. 275, figs. 1, 2. Greek hantharos; 3, amphoretis or diota of
8 The vases in No. ^74 are as follows: painted eartheuware on a wooden stand;
Chap. VII.
OTHER VASES.
the side ; ^ and many of those used in the service of the temple,
highly ornamented with figures of deities in relief,^ were attached
to a movable curved handle, on the principle of, though more
elegant in form than, their common culinary utensils.^ They
were of bronze, and the style of the figures represented on them
was as superior as the workmanship and quality of the materials ;
No. 276. Fig. 1. Bronze vase 2J inches liigh, used in the temple, in my possession.
2. A larger one, in the Berlin :Museuni.
3. 4, 5. Culinary utensils in the sculptures at Thebes.
and while citing them, I cannot omit the notice of a vase of
elongated form belonging to the late Mr. Salt,* in the manufac-
ture of which the skill of no ordinary artisan is displayed ; and
its cover, fitting with so much nicety that it resembles the effect
of a spring, vies with the excellent composition of the metal in
claiming: our admiration.^
4, g'oblet in shape of a papyrus flower ; ft,
jug very like the early Greek d'enocho'e ; 6
resembles a kind of amphoreu.i ; 7 is prob-
ably of some precious material, and is of
a shape more Egyptian. — S. B.
1 Woodcut No. 27.0, fgs. 3, 4, 5.
2 Woodcut No. 276, fiq. 1.
3 Woodcut No. 2ie,,'fig. 3.
■♦ Woodcut No. 277. '
5 In the woodcut No. 276, No. 1 is a
situlus or situla of bronze, with figures
in bas-relief. They are generally Amen-
Ra in his character of Khem, Horns,
Thoth, Sekhet, Nefer Turn, Athor, Isis,
Nephthys, and Harpocrates. Sometimes
the bo;it of Ea or the Sun, adored by
cynocepliali, is round the neck. They are
always of small size, and were either
votive or held in the hands of figures.
Two of large size in the British Museum^
10
THE ANX'IENT EGYPTIAX.S.
[Chap. VII.
Another of much larger dimensions, and of a different form,
was found by me at Thebes, and is now in the British Museum. ^
It is entirely of bronze, with two large handles fastened on with
pins; and tliough it resembles some of the caldrons introduced in
the paintings representing the Egyptian
kitchen, we may doubt from its lightness
whether it was used there, or intended as
a basin or for a similar jjurpose.
Vases surmounted with a human head,
forming the cover, appear to have been
frequently used for keeping gold and
other precious objects, rejn-esentations
of which are met with in the small side
chambers of Medeenet Haboo, the sup-
posed treasury of King Rameses ; and it
is not improbable that their being ap-
plied to this purpose in early times
obtained for them a name derived from
the Coptic rtcy^, 'gold,' afterwards
confounded with Canopus; though this
last, when applied to the town, is com-
pounded of K^Pji ncff^ (kahi nouK),
' the golden land,' or /^-ufffo" ^Smpog, Similar vases, with
human as well as other heads, were also used in the ceremonies
of the dead.
If Rameses III. were really the same as the wealthy Rhamp-
sinitus of Herodotus, these
chambers may have been the
very treasury he mentions,
where the thieves displayed
so much dexterity ; for though
his account might lead us to
infer that it was at Memphis,
we are not obliged to confine
the seat of government, and
consequently the scene of the
story, to the capital of Lower Egypt, even during the reign
of his Rhampsinitus ; and the historian, who lived almost solely
No- 27T. Bronze vase in the
British Museum.
N'l. 27X. Lar^if la-,,iizf \ms,
Thebes, now in tlie Britisli .Museum.
lircuight from
Nos. 5202, 5203, are engraved in outlines,
with scenes of adoration to Osiris, Isis, anil
Neplithys, and dedicator}- for Petamcn
nebkatta, a priest and scribe, hoklinic
amonirst other offices tliat of prophet of
the cynocephuli of the god Khous at
Thebes. — S. 1?.
1 Woodcut No. 278.
Chap. VH.I
BOTTLES OF GLASS, ETC.
11
in the vicinity of Memphis and Heliopolis, during his short stay
in the country, appears to speak of those cities as if Thebes
had always been a place of little consequence, and scarcely
worthy of notice. Indeed, it may fairly be doubted if Herodotus
ever visited Thebes ; though I cannot go so far as some, who
(question his having been in Egypt, and
supposed he derived his information from
the works of older writers.
Bottles, small vases, and pots, used for
holding ointment, or other purposes con-
nected with the toilet, were of alabaster,^
glass,^ [)orcelain,^ and hard stone, as granite
basalt, porphyry, serpentine, or breccia ; '^
some were of earthenware,^ ivory, bone,
and other materials, according to the
choice or means of individuals; but in a
work of so limited a nature as the present
it is impossible to introduce specimens of the numerous forms
they present, or to illustrate the various styles of their workman-
ship. I have therefore only selected those which relate more im-
mediately to the present subject, and, if required, shall, at some
Cilass buttle.
No. 279. Thebes
1 The principal shapes of the alabaster
vases are the calathus, or mortar-shaped
vase; its name appears to have been bast ;
the olla or jar, nams.t ; the beaker, hut
keken ; a j^'loboid l)ottle, hemeii ,' the bottle
or denochoe, and the alabastos, ■)^en ; and
other shapes are also found. But the most
cleuant shape in this material is a kind of
un<;'iient vase with wide mouth and pyri-
form body. The alabaster or rather arra-
gfonite vases belong' to two periods, those of
a uniform color and fine material, in use
from the earlier dynasties till the 26th,
when the vases are of a zoned arrajjonite of
alternate white and yellow layers. — S. B.
2 The vases in glass are principally
small perfume bottles for the toilet, and
were probably of Phcenician as Avell as
P^;iyptian origin; they are ilivided into
two classes, those of opaque or semi-
opaque l)lue ulass, with wavy lines in
white, or yellow and red. The oldest
known, now in the Britisli Museum, bears
the name of Thothmes III. The latter
bottles of transparent gi-een or colored
glass, and of the shape in No 279, are
from the time of the 26th Dynasty, or the
seventh century B.C. — SB.
3 The vases of porcelain are principally
bowN and goblets, and those of the earlier
period are of a dark blue color. A howl
in the British Museum, No. 4796, is in-
scribed with the name of llameses l\. At
the time of the 26th Dynasty, a pale apple-
green ware appears, principally used for
circular flasks like pilgrims' bottles, having
inscriptions on the bands of the edge, with
invocations to deities for a happy year to
its possessor, and sometimes the name of a
king appears. — S. B.
'^ Vases in these materials are rarer than
those in alabaster, and all the elegant
forms of tlie alabaster vases arc not re-
produced in them. Amongst those in
them are the calathus, or mortar-shaped
vase, the jars, patera? or circular plates or
liowls, and globular vases with short necks,
to hold in the hand and offer milk or wine ;
amphorje and jugs of small size occasion-
ally occur. — S. B.
5 Conf. Athen. Deipnos. ii. c. 3 :
' Earthenware vases, which we highly
esteem, brought from Coptos.' [The
shapes and sizes of earthenware vases are
too numerous to detail, the largest and the
smallest of various varieties being found;
they are also of various classes of earthen-
ware, plain, polished, and perhaps slightly
glazed ; elegant forms even for the toilet
are found in this material. — S. B.]
12 ' THE ANCIENT EGYPTIANS. Ciiai'. YII.
future ])t'rio(l. examine the vases of the Egyptians in the minute
No. 2S0.
F'kj. 1. Alabaster vase in the British M\istnuii, from Thebes.
2, Porcehiin vase in Mr. Salf s Collection.
and detailed manner which the interesting variety, found in the
tombs or painted on the monuments, deserves.
Xo. 2S1.
Fi(j. 1. Alabaster vase, containing sweet-scented ointment, in the Musenni of Alnwick Castle.
-'. Hieroglyi)hios on the vase, presenting the name of the queen Ilashops, of the llSth
Dvnastv.
3. The "stopper. Figs. 4 and 9. Porcelain vases, from the paintings of Thebes.
5. Porcelain cup. in my possession, from Thebes.
6. Vase of ivorv, in my possession, containing a dark-colored ointment : from Thebes.
7. Alabaster vase for holding kohl or stibium, with its lid (S); in the Museum of .Vlnwick
Castle.
Chap. VII. I
BOXE.S FOR THE TOILET.
13
Small boxes, made of wood or ivory, were also numerous,
offering, like the vases, a multiplicity of forms; and some
which contained cosmetics of divers kinds served to deck the
dressing-table, or a lady's boudoir. They were carved in various
ways, and loaded with ornamental devices in relief ; sometimes
representing the favorite lotus flower, with its buds and stalks, a
goose, gazelle, fox, or other animal.^ Many
were of considerable length, terminating in a
hollow shell, not unlike a spoon in shape and
depth, covered with a lid turning on a pin :
and to this, which may properly be styled
the box, the remaining part was merely an
accessory, intended for ornament, or serving
as a handle.
One of these has been already noticed
for the elegance of its execution, and the
grace of a female playing the guitar carved
upon it ; and, though on so small a scale it
is difticult to do justice to the origina-, the
reader may form some idea of the attitude
of the figure from the accompanying wood-
cut.^ They were generally of sycamore
wood, sometimes of tamarisk^ or sont,'* and
occasionally the more costly ivory or inlaid
work was suljstituted for wood. To many,
a handle of less disproportionate length was
attached, representing the usual lotus ^'*'- ^^^ihe^god Bes! ^^"'''' °^
flower, a figure, a Typhonian monster,^ an British Museum.
animal, a bird, a fish, or a reptile ; and the box itself, whether
covered with a lid or open, was in character with the remaining
1 Several charmino: spoons or boxes of
this kind exist iu diti'erent European collec-
tions. One of ivory, in the lirit. Mnseiim,
Xo. 5946, represents a s\viniruin<j duck
holdinji a fish in its beak, which it conveys
to the ducklings, who tiy to catch it.
Other examples which have been figured,
represent Egyptian women swimmingacross
the Nile, girdled round the loins and hold-
ing a vase, as in woodcut Xo. 286, or
ducks. Those with a bouquet of tiowers
are more common, both in wood and ivory.
Others are in the shape of cartouches, and
one of these has at the bottom enyrraved in
outline a pond surrounded by papyrus
plants, and in the pond three fishes swim-
ming, biting the leaves and stems of the
plants. (Prisse, ' Mon. Egypt.' pi. xviii.)
A few are carved spoons, the bowl in shape
of the shell Indina nilotica, and tlic long
cylindrical handle recurved at the end,
and terminating in the head of a water-
bird.— S. B.
2 Woodcut Xo. 284; see also woodcut
Xo. 177, vol. i. p. 407.
3 Tamarix orientalis ; A\-a\). Athul.
'* Acacia (or Mimosa) nilotica.
5 The Asiatic god Bes and Egyptian
Bessa, who appears at the time of the 22d
Dynasty. He is distinct from Set or
Typhon, and often appears on objects of
the toilet. C)ne of these boxes with two
spoons contained lumps of white wax. —
S. B.
14
THE AXCIEXT EGYrTIAXS.
[Chap VII.
part. Some of these shallow boxes .were probably intended to
contain small portions of ointment, taken from a large vase at
the time it was wanted, or for other purposes connected with
the toilet, where greater depth was not required ; and in many
instances they so nearly resemble spoons that it is dithcult to
decide to which of the two they ought to be referred.
No. 283. Box with a Vniix handle, orua-
mented with jjajtyrus flowers.
British Ahtsetim.
No. 2f54. Box ill the r.orliii .Musouiu, female
pluying on the guitar, and papyni-;
dowers; showing the lid open".
Many are made in the form of a royal oval, with and without
a handle ; ^ and the body of a wooden fish is scooped out, and
closed with a cover imitating the scales, to deceive the eye by the
appearance of a solid mass. Sometimes a goose was represented,
ready for table,^ or swimming on the water ^ and pluming itself;
whose head constitutes the handle of a box formed of its hollow
1 Woodcut Xo. 286.
2 Woodcut Xo. 288.
3 Woodcut Xo. 289, Jig. 2.
Chap. VII.].
VARIOUS SMALL BOXES.
15
body : some consist of an open part, or cup, attached to a covered
box; ^ others of different shapes offer the usual variety of fancy
devices, and some without covers may come under the denomi-
No. 285.
Wooden box or saucer without cover.
British Museum.
nation of saucers. Others bear the precise form and character
of a box, being deeper and more capacious, probably used for
No. 286. Other opeu boxes, whose form is taken from the oval of a king's name.
Alnwick Castle and Ley den Museum.
holding trinkets, or occasionally as repositories for the small pots
of ointment or scented oils, and bottles containing the collyrium
1 Woodcut No. 290.
16
THE xVXCIEXT EGYPTIANS. [CuaI'. VIL
No. 287
Box in the form of a 2iih, with turning Ud. Mr. Salt's Collection.
Iso. ■>
Biix with and without its cover. Muatiim or Atmcick Castle.
Boxes in form of geese. British Museum and Leyden Museum.
No. 290. Box.in shape of a flsh, one part open, and one covered. British Musetm.
No. 291. Box in shape of a gourd, with the lid tuniing, as usual, on a pin.
lirifish y urn.
Chap. YIL]
VARIOUS BOXES.
17
applied to the eyes, which I shall have occasion to notice with
the toilet of the ladies.
Some were divided into separate compartments, covered by a
common lid, either sliding in a groove,^ or turning on a pin at
No. 292.
A box, with and without its lid.
Britislt Museum.
oue end; and many of still larger dimensions sufficed to contain
a mirror, combs, and perhaps even some articles of dress.
These boxes were frequentl}' of costly materials, veneered
No. 293.
^'^' I: m, ^'^^ ^^^ devices carved in relief, divided into cells.
2. The lid, which slides into a groove. liriti
fish Museum.
Math rare woods, or made (^f ebony, inlaid with ivory, painted
with various devices, or stained to imitate materials of a valuable
nature ; and the mode of fastening some of them, and the curious
1 Woodcut No. 293.
18
THE ANCIEXT EOYPTIAXS.
[Chap. Vn,
substitute for a hiuge, show the lid was eutirely removed, and
that the box remained oj)eu while used. The principle of this
will be better understood by reference to the woodcut No. 294,
where jig. 1 rejH-esents a side section of the box, and jig. 2 the
inside of the lid. At the upper part of the back c, jig. 3, a
small hole e is cut, which, when the box is closed, receives the
nut D, projecting from the cross-bar B, on the inside of the lid ;
and the two knobs f and g, one on the lid, the other on the
f9'^
f^n n
1
H
D
fig.b.
/i7.2.
No. 2i>4.
FUj. 1. Section of the box. a, the liil. k, the bottom, c, the side.
2. The iuside of the lid. b, h, cross-bars nailed inside the lid.
Found at Thebes.
front of the box itself, served not only for ornament but for
fastening it, a band being wound round them, and secured with
a seal. These knobs, which were of ebony or other' hard wood,^
were frequently turned with great care, and inlaid with ivory
and silver, an instance of which is given in jig. 5.
Some boxes were made with a pointed summit, divided into
two parts, one of which only opened, turning on small pivots at
the base, and the two ends of the box resembled in form the
gable ends, as the top the shelving roof, of a house.^ The sides
1 Frajrnients of boxes of ebony of the
time of Amonophis Til. and liis queen Tai
are in tlie British Museum, No. 5899a, and
other IVaifmeuts of boxes have been found
at the Biban ul Molook. (Mariette-Bey,
'Monuments divers,' pi. 36a.) They are
en^rraveil ^vith the name and titles of the
monarch, and apparently came from his
sepulchre. — S. B.
8 Besides the boxes in ebony inlaid with
stained ivory and porcelain, many of
(lainted sycamore, with painted inscrip-
tions, apparently sepulchral, sonic as early
as I'epi of the 6th Dynasty (British
Museum, No. 5910) are found. One
cvlindrical iinpainted box is filletl with
Hour (British Mas., No. 5923) ; another of
square shape, standing on four legs, is
Chap. Yll.]
TERRA-COTTA BOTTLES.
19
were, as usual, secured by glue and nails, generally of wood, and
dovetailed, a method of joining adopted in Egypt at the most
remote period ; but the description of these belongs more properly
to cabinet work, as those employed for holding the combs, and
similar objects, to the toilet.
Some vases have been found in boxes, made of wicker-work,
closed with stoppers of wood, reed, or other materials, su])posed
to belong either to a lady's toilet or to a medical man ; one of
which, now preserved in the Berlin Museum, has been already
noticed. The vases are six in number, varying slightly in form
and size : five of alabaster, and the remaining one of serpentine,
each standing in its own cell or compartment.
Bottles of terra-cotta are also met with, in very great
abundance, of the most varied forms and dimensions, made for
every kind of purpose of which they were susceptible ; and I
have met with one which appears to have belonged to a painter,
No. 295. Terra-cotta bottle, perhaps used by painters for holding water, and carried on
the thumb. British Museum.
and to have been intended for holding water to moisten the
colors ; the form and position of the handle suggesting that it
was held on the tumb of the left hand, while the person wrote
or painted with his right.
Besides vases and bottles of stone, and of the materials
above mentioned, the Egyptians sometimes had them of leather
or prepared skin ; and though it does not appear to what purpose
they were generally applied, we may conclude, from the fact of
their being imported into Egypt from foreign countries, that
they were required for a particular use, or preferred on account
of some peculiar quality in the leather itself. The Egyptians,
we are informed by Herodotus, like the Greeks and Romans,
occasionally employed skins for holding wine as well as water,
especially when removing it from one place to another ; and the
made of papyrus (Xo. 5918); and one little wooden box (British Museum. Xo .5906) lias
hinyes like a modern snuff-box. — S. B.
20 THE ANCIENT EGYPTIANS. [Chap. VII.
fact that the robber of Rhampsiiiitus's ^ treasury adopted the
same method of carrying his wine in skins, at a time when any
unusual custom would necessarily have been avoided, shows it to
have been one of common occurrence. It is, however, doubtful
if leathern bottles were applied to the same purpose ; and as we
do not find them introduced at parties, it may be inferred that
they were neither intended for drawing wine from the aniphorie,
nor for handing it at table.
Bottles and narrow-mouthed vases, placed in the sitting-room
and holding water, were frequently closed with some light
substance,^ through which the warm air could pass, as it rose,
during the cooling process, being submitted to a current of air
to increase the evaporation : leaves were often emploj'edfor this
purpose, as at the present day, those of a fragrant kind being
probably selected ; and the same prejudice against leaving a vase
uncovered ma}^ have existed among the ancient as among the
modern inhabitants of Egypt.
While the guests were entertained with music and the dance,
dinner was prepared; but, as it consisted of a considerable
number of dishes, and the meat was killed for the occasion, as at
the present day in Eastern and tropical climates, some time
elapsed before it was put upon the table. During this interval,
conversation was not neglected ; and the chit-chat of the day,
public affairs, and questions of business or amusement, occupied
the attention of the men. Sometimes an accident occurring at
the house afforded an additional subject for remark : and, as at
the feast of the rich Nasidienus, the fall of a dusty curtain, or
some ill-secured piece of furniture, induced many to offer con-
dolences to the host, while others indulged in the criticisms of a
sarcastic Balatro.^
A circumstance of this kind is represented in a tomb at
Thebes. A party assembled at the house of a friend are regaled
with the sound of music, and the custonutry introduction of
refreshments ; and no attention which the host could show his
visitors appears to be neglected on the occasion. The wine has
circulated freely, and as they are indulging in anuising converse.
1 Herod, ii. 121. The "^^^^j^/A ^^'^ on tlic hacks of .isscs. It is uientioncd in
^— =~j ^ the insciiplion ol' Seti I. al Khcdesieli.
(' Kcconls of the Past,* viii. p 77.) — S. B.
or water-skin was used, as at the present ^ Woodcut No. 303.
dav, for carrviufr water across tlie desert ^ Hor. Sat ii. S, 64.
Chap. VII.]
CONVERSATION BEFORE DINNER.
21
a young man, perhaps from inadvertence, perhaps from the effect
of intemperance, reclining with his whole weight against a
column in the centre of the apartment, throws it down upon the
assembled guests, who are seen, with uplifted hands, endeayoring
to protect themselves and escape from its fall.
Many similar instances of a talent for caricature are observ-
able in the compositions of Egyptian artists, who executed
tlie paintings of the tombs ; and the ladies are not spared. We
are led to infer that they were not deficient in the talent of
conversation : and the numerous subjects they proposed are
shown to have been examined with great animation. Among
these, the question of dress was not forgotten, and the patterns
or the value of trinkets were discussed with proportionate
>;o. 296.
Ladies at a party, talking about tlieir earrings.
Thebes.
interest. The maker of an earring, or the shop where it was
purchased, was -anxiously inquired; each compared the work-
manship, the style, and the materials of those she wore, coveted
her neighbor's, or preferred her own ; and women of every
class vied with each other in the display of ' jewels of silver, and
jewels of gold,' ^ in the texture of their raiment, the neatness
of their sandals, and the arrangement or beautv of their plaited
hair.2
Agreeable conversation was considered the principal charm
of accomplished society : for, as Athenaeus says of the ancient
1 Exod. xii. 35. [These scenes of sym-
posia or banquets are found in the tombs
of the 18th and 19th Dynasties. At an
earlier period they were not represented,
the favorite subjects being the chase anil
the farm. — S. B.]
2 The Egyptian women appear to have
been very proud of their hair, and locks of
it, when very long, were sometimes cut
otf and wrapped up separately, to be buried
in their tomb after death. Conf. 1 Cor. xi
15, and 1 Pet. iii. o.
22 THE ANCIENT EGYPTIANS. |CiiAP. VII.
Greeks,^ 'It was more requisite and becoming to gratify the
company by pleasing conversation than witli variety <)t" dishes. '
and affairs of great moment were probabh^ discussed at the
festive meeting, as in the heroic ages described by Horner.^
Ill the meantime, the kitchen presented an animated scene ;
and the cook, with many assistants, was engaged in making ready
for dinner : an ox, kid,^ wild goat, gazelle, or oryx, and a quantity
of geese, ducks, widgeons, quails, or other birds, were obtained
for the occasion. Mutton, it is supposed, was unhawful food to
the inhabitants of the Thebaid ; and Plutarch affirms * that ' no
Egyptians, except the Lycopolites, eat the flesh of sheep ; " wliile
Strabo confines the sacrifice of this animal to the norae of
Nitriotis.^ But though we do not find from the sculptures that
sheep were killed for the altar or the table, it is evident they
abounded in Egypt, and even at Thebes, being frequently
represented in the tombs ; and large flocks are shown to have
been kept, especially in the vicinity of Memphis, if only for
the sake of their wool. Sometimes they amounted to more
than 2000 ; and in a tomb below the Pyramids, 974 rams are
brought to be registered by the scribes, as part of the stock of
the deceased ; implying an equal number of ewes, independent
of lambs, which in the benign climate of Egypt were twice
produced within the space of one 3'ear.^
Beef and goose constituted the principal part of the animal
food throughout Egypt ; "' and by a prudent foresight, in a
coimtry possessing neither extensive pasture lands, nor great
abundance of cattle, the cow was held sacred, and consequently
forbidden to be eaten.^ And thus the risk of exhausting, or
at least greatly lessening their stock, was effectually prevented,
and a constant supply maintained for the consumption of the
people.
That a considerable quantity of meat was served u}! at those
1 Athcn. X. ii. Icucorvx, mahut ; V3al, mast; bull, nekau ;
2 Hoiii. II. 1.70. anil cow beer, an: luul aiuougst birils the
3 Except ill the Meiulesiun nome. clove or piiicoii. tnennu t; tlie goo^c,
Hcro<l()t. ii. 4fi. semen; another kinil, sa and set, one the
•* Pint, de Isitl. s. 72. He also says (s. vulpunser troose ; the heron, Ta. Another
5), 'The priests abstain I'rom nmtton and list (Lep^ius, Denkni. ii. 28) has other
swine's flesli.' dncks called /•(/ and tirp. — S. H.
5 Strabo, xvii. '^ Plutareh (s. 31) says, red oxen wore
6 This is still the case if well fed. lawful for sacrifice, but 'not so if they had
(Diodorus, lib. i. 36 and S7.) a sinyrle white hair. Conf. Numb. xix. 2 :
■ In the lists of the 4th and following-- ' BriuL^ thee a red heifer without spot.'
Dynasties (Lepsius, Denkni. Abth. ii. 2.')) I7(/<' Ilerodot. ii. 38, 41. For tiie tal)le tiie
the followinjr animals are mentioned as Ej;yptians killed oxen with black or red
eaten : the hvena, het.t ; goat, kahs ; the spots.
Chap. YII.] THE FOOD OF THE EGYPTIANS. 23
repasts to which strangers were invited, is evident from the
sculptures, and agreeable with the customs of Eastern nations
whose azooma, or feast, prides itself in the quantity and variety
of dishes, in the unsparing profusion of viands, and, whenever
wine is permitted, in the freedom of the bowl. An endless
succession of vegetables was also required on all occasions, and,
Avhen diningin private, dishes of that kind were in greater request
than joints, even at the tables of the rich: we are therefore not
surjjrised to find the Israelites, who by their long residence there
had acquired similar habits, regretting them equally with the
meat and fish,^ which they 'did eat in Egypt freely;' and the
advantages of a leguminous diet are still acknowledged by the
inhabitants of modern Egypt. This, in a hot climate, is far
more conducive to health than the constant introduction of meat,
which is principally used to flavor the vegetables cooked with
it; and if at an Eastern feast a greater quantity of meat is
introduced, the object is rather to do honor to the guests
who in most countries and all ages have been welcomed by
an encouragement of excess, and a display of such things as
show a desire on the part of the host to spare no expense in their
entertainment.
The same custom prevailed with the ancient Egyptians ; and
their mode of eating was very similar to that now adopted in
Cairo and throughout the East, each person sitting round a
table, and dipping his bread into a dish placed in the centre,
removed on a sign made by the host, and succeeded by others,
whose rotation depends on established rule, and whose number
is predetermined according to the size of the party or quality
of the guests.
Among the lower orders, vegetables constituted a very great
part of their ordinary food, and they gladly availed themselves
of the variety and abundance of esculent roots growing spon-
taneously in the lands irrigated b}^ the rising Nile, as soon as its
1 Xurab.- xi. 4, 5. Fish docs not appear .Euphrates ; fish called atu from some other
in the lists of food of the earlier dynasties, river; and hanata fish. Many of these
although represented in the tombs as were foreign, and introduced as luxuries
caught, sliced, salted, and prepared for into Egypt. (' Records of the Past,' vi. p.
food. It \yas, however, probably not eaten 14.) The hierarchy appears to have had
at the period by the richer classes or the some prejudice against fish, for the
sacerdotal order. At the time of the 19th Ethiopian conqueror Pianchi, apparent!}- a
Dynasty many varieties of fish are men- religious fanatic, would only admit into
tioned : as the utu ; the baran of the river his presence, Ximrud, king of Hermopolis,
Ham (Halys) or Haruma; Xha harai and because he did not catfish, and excluded
baka, fish from the Puharta, the Phrat or the other princes. ^S. B.
24 THE ANCIENT EGYPTIANS. *[Chap. YII.
waters had sul)si(led ; some of which were eaten in a crude state,
and otliers roasted in tlie ashes, boiled, or stewed : tlieir chief
aliment, and that of their children consisting of milk and cheese,^
roots,2 leguminous, cucurl)itaceons, and other plants, and ordinary
fruits of the country. Herodotus describes the fcxjd of the work-
men who built tli« Pyramids to have been the ' raphanus or fi(/l,^
onions, and garlic; 3^et, if these were anntng the number they
used, and perhaps the sole provisions supplied at the govern-
ment expense, we are not to suppose they were limited to them ;
and it is probable that lentils, of which it is inferred from Strabo
they had an abundance on this occasion, may be reckoned as part,
or even the chief article of their food.
The nummulite rock in the vicinity of those monuments fre-
quently presents a conglomerate of testacea imbedded in it, which
in some positions resemble small seeds ; and the geographer,
imagining them to be the petrified residue of the lentils brought
there by the workmen, was led to this observation on the nature
of their provisions. That he is correct in supposing lentils to
have been a great article of diet among the laboring classes, and
all the lower orders of Egyptians, is evident from their repeated
mention in ancient authors ; and so much attention was bestowed
on the culture of this useful pulse that certain varieties became
remarkable for their excellence, and the lentils of Pelusium were
esteemed both in Egypt and in foreign countries.* Two species
of the plant are noticed by Pliny,^ who shows it to have been
extensivel}' cultivated ; and this, as well as the constant use of
lentils among the peasants at the present da}^ full}" justify the
opinion that they constituted a great, and even the principal,
part of the aliment of the lower orders at all times.
In few countries were vegetables more numerous than in
Egypt ; and the authority of ancient writers, the sculptures, and
the number of persons employed in selling them at Alexandria,
sufficiently attest this fact. Pliny ^ ol)serves that the vallej' of
the Nile ' surpassed ever}- other country in the abundance and
spontaneous growth of those herbs which most people are in the
1 Dioil. i. 87. [Milk, culled arat.t, was var. A. edulis of LiiinaMis, mistaken by the
evidently an extensive article ol" food; learned Larchcr for liorse-radish, which is
cheese, i'ser, is also mentioned in the lists. not an E^^-ptian plant. Onions, hut, also
— S. B.l appear in the lists as eaten. — S. B.
2 Diod. i. 80. •* \'ir-. (4eorjr. i. 228.
8 Herodot. ii. 12.i. So called by the & Plin. \yiii. 12.
modern Egyptians, the Raphanus aatiiyus, ^ Nat. Hist. xxi. 15.
CiiAP. VII.] ONIONS FORBIDDEN THE PRIESTS 25
habit of using as food, especially the Egyptians ; ' and at tlie
time of the Arab invasion, when Alexandria was taken by
Amer, the lieutenant of the Calii)h Omer, no less than 4000
persons were engaged in selling vegetables in that city.
The lotus, the papyrus, and other similar productions of the
land, during and after the inundation, were, for the poor, one of
the greatest blessings Nature ever provided for any people ; and,
like the acorn ^ in Northern climates, constituted perhaps the
sole aliment of the peasantry at the early period when Egypt
was first colonized. The fertility of the soil, however, soon
afforded a more valuable produce to the inhabitants ; and long
before they had made any great advances in civilization, corn
and leguminous plants were, doubtless, grown to a great extent
throughout the country. The palm was another important gift
bestowed upon them : it flourished spontaneously in the valley
of the Nile, and if it was unable to grow in the sands of the
arid desert, yet wherever water sufficed for its nourishment, this
useful tree produced an abundance of dates, a Avholesome and
nutritious fruit, which might be regarded as a universal benefit,
being within the reach of all classes of people, and neither
requiring expense in the cultivation, nor interfering with the
time demanded for other agricultural occupations.
Among the vegetables above mentioned is one which re-
quires some observations. Juvenal says they were forbidden
to eat the onion,^ and it is reported to have been excluded from
an Egyptian table. The prohibition, however, seems only to
have extended to the priests, who, according to Plutarch ,3
'abstained from most kinds of pulse;' and the abhorrence felt
for onions, according to the same author,* was confined to the
members of the sacerdotal order.
That onions were cultivated in Egypt is proved from the
authority of many writers, as well as from the sculptures ; their
quality ^yas renowned in ancient as well as modern times ; and
the Israelites, when they left the country, regretted 'the onions,'
as well as the cucumbers, the melons, the leeks, the garlic, and
the meat ^ they ' did eat ' in Egypt. Among the offerings
presented to the gods, both in the tombs and temples, onions
1 Conf. Hor. Sevm. I. iii. 100. And .J. * Ibid. s. 8.
Pollifx, Onom. lib. i. 12, who quotes 5 Numb. xi. 5; atid Exod. xvi. 3, 'Iii
Xenoplion, Anab. r>. the land of Efrypt, when we sat by the
- Juv. xiv. 9: ' Porrura et cepe iiefas tlesh-pots, and when we did eat bread to
violare et frangere morsu.' the full.'
3 Pint, de Isid. s. 5 and 8.
26
THE ANCIENT EGYPTIAInS.
ICUAP. Vli.
are introduced, and a priest is frequently seen holding them in
his hand, or covering an altar with a bundle of their leaves and
roots. ^ Nor is it less certain that they were introduced at
private as well as public festivals, and brought to table witli
gourds, cucumbers,^ and other vegetables ; and if there is any
truth in the notion of their being forbidden, we may conclude
it was entirely confined to the priestly order.
The onions of Egypt were mild and of an excellent flavor,
and were eaten crude as well as cooked, by persons both of the
higher and the lower classes ; but it is difficult to say if they
introduced them at table like the cabbage, as a hors tVoeuvre, to
stimulate the appetite, which Socrates recommends in the Ban-
quet of Xenophon. On this occasion some curious reasons for
their use are brought forward by different members of the party.
Nicerates observes that onions relish well with wine, and cites
Homer in support of his remarks : Callias affirms that they
inspire courage in the hour of battle : and Charmides suggests
their utility ' in deceiving a jealous wife, who, finding her hus-
band return with his breath smelling of onions, would be in-
duced to believe he had not saluted any one while from home.'
In slaughtering for the table, it was customary to take the ox,
or whatever animal had been chosen for the occasion, into a
=^-P-^
No. 297. A butcher killing and cutting up an ibex or wild goat; the other two shnrpi'nine
their knives on a steel. The cut in the throat has, however, been omitted
in this woodcut. TlnOes.
courtyard near the 'house ; to tie its four legs together, and then
to throw it upon the ground ; in which position it was held by
one or more persons, while the butcher, shari)ening his broad
knife upon a steel attached to his apron, proceeded to cut the throat
as nearly as possible from one ear to the other, sometimes con-
i Vol. i. p. 181, woodcut No. 9.
2 Called tenruka, and said to be as sweet
as honey. ('Records of the Past," vi. p.
16.) — S. B.
CiiAP. VII. J SLAUGHTERING FOR THE TABLE. 27
tinning the opening downwards along the throat.^ The bh)0(l
was frequently received into a vase or basin for the purposes of
cookery ,2 which was frequently forbidden to the Israelites by the
Mosaic law ; ^ and the reason of the explicit manner of the pro-
hibition is readily explained from the necessity of preventing
their adopting a custom they had so constantly witnessed in Egjpt.
Nor is it less strictly denounced by the Mohammedan religion ;
and all Moslems ^ook upon this ancient Egyptian and modern
European custom with unqualified horror and disgust.
The head was then taken off, and they proceeded to skin the
animal,* beginning with the leg and neck. The first joint
removed was the right foreleg or shoulder, the other parts fol-
lowing in succession, according to custom or convenience : and
the same rotation was observed in cutting up the victims offered
in sacrifice to the gods.^ Servants carried the joints to the kitchen
on wooden trays ;^ and the cook having selected the parts suited
for boiling, roasting, and other modes of dressing, prepared them
for fire by washing, and any other preliminary process he thought
necessary. In large kitchens, the chef^ or head cook, had several
persons under him, who were required to make ready and boil
the water of the caldron, to put the joints on spits or skewers,"
to cut up or mince the meat, to prepare the vegetables, and to
fulfil various other duties assigned to them.
The very peculiar mode of cutting up the meat frequently
X->revents our ascertaining the exact part they intend to repre-
sent in the sculptures; the chief joints, however, appear to be the
head,^ shoulder, and leg, with the ribs, tail, or rump, the heart.
1 The Israelites sometimes cut off the 4 Herodot. ii. 39.
head at once : Deut. xxi. 4-6. A scene of 5 Levit. vii. 3'2, 34 : ' The right shoulder
slauu-htering- animals is represented in the shall ye give unto the priest for an heave-
tomb of Ptahhetep, at Memphis (Due- offering of the sacrifices of your peace-
michen, 'Resultate,' fol. 1809, taf. xi.), offerings. . . . For the wave-breast
with the accompanying hieroglyphic and the heave shoulder had I taken . . .
speeches of the butchers. The shoulder, from off the sacrifices . . . and have
it appears, was first cut off, and was the given them unto Aaron the priest.'
satp or select portion reserved for the 6 Plate XI. vol. i.
priest. The heart was also cut out of the " Virg. xEn. i. 215.
tlanlc, and the butcher who holds it says, 8 The joints recorded in the lists are the
'Take care of this heart,' as if it were 'an haunch or shoulder, x^P^ ■> flailed also satp,
important part. The blood was collected ' the select ' or the choice portion ; the lea:
in a jar with a long spout. — S. B without the knuckle, ua ; the rib, sper';
- Woodcut No. 300. the flank, speh en sper ; the half leg, sut ;
3 Dent. XV. 23: 'Only thou shalt not the hom-t, hat or ah ; and some other por-
eat the blood thereof: thou shalt pour it tions not determined, called «««A«m, kidney,
upon the ground as water.' And xii. 16, and mast. Flesh generally was culled df,
23: 'Be sure that thou eat not the blood: and kibobs or slices as'er. — S. B.
for the blood is tlie life.' Gen. ix. 4;
Levit. xvii. 10, 11, 14, &c.
28
THE ANX'IENT EGYrXIANS.
[Chap. VII.
and kidneys ; and they occur in the same manner on the altars
of the temple, and the tables of a [)rivate house. One is remark-
al)le not only for being totall}^ uidike any of our European
joints, but from its exact resemblance to that comniunly seen at
table in modern Egypt : it is i)art of the leg, consisting of the
flesh covering the tibia, whose two extremities project slightly
beyond it : and the accompanying drawing from the sculptures,
and a sketch of the same joint taken at a modern table in Upper
Egypt, show how the mode of cutting it has been preserved by
traditional custom to the f)resent day.^
No. 298. Peculiar joint of meat at an ancient (1) and modern (2) Egyptian table.
The head was left with the skin and horns, and was some-
times given away to a poor person as a reward for holding the
walking-sticks of those guests who came on foot ; ^ in later
times, when the Greeks were settled in the country, it was sold
to them, or to other foreigners : but it was frequently taken to
the kitchen with the other joints ; and, notwithstanding the
positive assertion of Herodotus, we find that even in the temples
themselves it was admitted at a sacrifice, and placed with other
offerings on the altars of the gods.^
The historian would lead us to suppose that a strict religious
scruple prevented the Egyptians of all classes from eating this
part, as he affirms 'that no Egyi)tian will taste the head of any
species of animal,' "* in consequence of certain imprecations having
been uttered upon it at the time it was sacrificed : but as he is
speaking of heifers slaughtered for the service of the gods, we
1 It frequently appear-; in the lists
of viands mentioned in tlio tonihs of tlic
4tli Dynasty, and was then called sut.
\
t:^''^ — S. B.
2 Phite XL, /ff. 10.
3 The head Is of a calf, represented on
the altar of viands placed before Osiris,
alon<r with the haunch, ribs, and other
parts; it tloes not, however, appear
amonjrst the joints in the bills of fare from
the 4th to the 12th Dynasties, and by in-
ference, therefore, it was not eaten. — S. B.
* Uerod. ii. 39.
Chap. VII.]
THE HEAD OF THE VICTIM.
29
may conclude that the prohibition did not extend t(j those killed
for table, nor even to all those offered for sacrifice in the temple ;
and as with the scapegoat of the Jews, that important ceremony
was perhaps confined to certain occasions and to chosen animals,
without extending to every victim which was slain.
The formula of the im[)recation was probably very similar
with the Jews and Egyptians. Herodotus says the latter pray
the gods, ' that if any misfortune was about to happen to those
who offered, or to the other inhabitants of Egypt, it might fall
upon that head ; ' and with the former it was customary for the
priest to take two goats and cast lots upon them, 'one lot for the
Lord and the other lot for the scapegoat,' which was presented
alive " to make atonement ' for the people. The priest was then
required to 'lay both his hands upon the head of the live goat,
and confess over him all the iniquities of the children of Israel,
and all their transgressions in all their sins, putting them upon
the head of the goat, and send him away by the hand of a fit man
into the wilderness.' ^ The remark of Herodotus should then be
confined to the head, on wliich their, imprecation was pro-
nounced, and, being looked upon by every Egyptian as an abomi-
nation, it may have been taken to the market and sold to foreign-
ers, or if no foreigners happened to
be there, it may have been given ^ to
the crocodiles.^
The same mode of slaughtering,
and of preparing the joints, extended
to all the large animals; but geese*
and other wild and tame fcnvl were
served up entire, or, at least, only
deprived of their feet and pinion
joints : fish were also brought to table
whole, whether boiled or fried, the
tails and fins being removed. For the service of religion, they
were generally prepared in the same manner as for private feasts ;
sometimes, however, an ox was brought entire to the altar, and
Xo. 299. An ox and a bird placed
entire on the altar.
1 Levit. xvi. 8, 21.
- Herodotus's words are, ' thrown into
the river.' This could onlv have been in
place-: where crocodiles abounded : it would
otherwise have polluted the stream they so
hiirhly esteemed Plutarcji says, ' A
solemn curse havin<r been pronounced upon
tlie head, it was tlirown into the river;
this was in former times, but now it is sold
to foreigners.' (De Isid. s 31.)
3 ^Eiian obseiwes, ' that the Ombitcs do
not eat the head of any animal they have
offered in sacrifices; they throw it to the
crocodiles.' (De Xat. Anim. lib. x. c. 21.)
•* They were sometimes decapitated, but
are often, as above represented, entire, tlie
wh^'lc animal bein;;'' offered in sacrifice. —
30 THE ANCIENT EGYPTIANS. [Chap. VII,
l)ir(ls were often placed auiuiig the (>rt'iTiiiL;s witliout cwn luiv-
iiig tlie feathers taken off.
The favorite meats were beef and goose ; ^ the ibex, gazelle,
and oryx were also in great request ; Init we are surprised, in a
country where mutton is unquestionably lighter and more whole-
some, that they should prefer the first tw(;, and even exclude this
last from the table.^ In Abyssinia it is a sin to eat geese or
ducks ; and modern experience teaches that, in Egypt and similar
climates, beef and goose are not eligible food, except in the depth
of winter. In Lower Egypt, or, as Herodotus styles it, tlie corn
country, they were in the habit of drying and salting birds of
various kinds, as quails, ducks, and others, a process to which I
believe the sculptures themselves refer ; ^ and fish were prepared
by them in the same manner both in Upper and Lower Egypt.^
Some joints were boiled, others roasted : two modes of dress-
ing their food to which Herodotus appears to confine the Egyp-
tians, at least in the lower country ; but though there is no posi-
tive evidence from the sculptures that they adopted a very arti-
ficial kind of cookery, ^t is highly probable that they had made
some advances in this as in the other habits of a civilized, I may
say luxurious, people, and had at a very remote period passed
that state when men are contented Avith sim[)licity and primi-
tive habits.^ And we shall at least feel ilisposed to allow the
Egyptians as much skill in the culinary art as was displayed by
Rebekah in the savory meats she ])repared for Isaac, where the
disguise was sufficient to prevent his distinguishing the meat of
kids from the promised vension.*^
It is true, that in the infancy of societ}' the diet is exceedingly
plain and simple, consisting principally, if not entirely, of roast
meats : and, as Athenaeus observes, the heroes of Homer seldom
*boil their meat or dress it with sauces ; ' the few instances even
of the former, which occur in the Iliad," plainl\' showing how
unusual the custom was at the period he describes.
That the Eg3q)tians were in early times immoderately fond of
delicate living, or indeed at any period committed tlu)se excesses
of which the Ronii'iMS are known to have been guiltv, is hi^hlv
1 Conf. Herodot. ii. 37. 3 Woodcut No. 99.
- Ill one of the lists of the 4th Dynasty, ■• Ilorodot. ii. 77, and the seiiliniires.
alj, either 'tlie kid' or 'lamb' is nieii- 5 Bocchoris coniphvined that Mcnes had
tioncd (Lepsiiis, Dcnkm. ii. 21). In Coptic taii^rht the Ej,^yptians a luxurious mode of
the ab is ' the lauil),' not ' the kid ;' so that if liviuL', even in regard to diet,
tiiis is the lanih, mutton was occasionally "J (ien. \xvii. 3, 9.
eaten. — S. H. " " Iliad*, 362.
Chap. YII.I DIET AXD COOKERY. 31
improbable, especially as the example of the priesthood, who con-
stituted a very great portion of the higher classes, tended so much
to induce moderation, but even before the close of the 16th
Dynasty, or about 1600 B.C., they had alreadj^ begun to indulge
in nearly the same habits as in the later Pharaonic ages; and it
appears from Diodorus and Plutarch that their original simplicity
gave place to luxury as early as the reign of their first king
Menes.^ Excesses they no doubt committed, especially in the use
of wine, both on private '^ and public occasions,'^ which is not con-
cealed in the sculptures of Thebes : and in later times, after the
conquest of Egypt by the Persians, and the accession of the
Ptolemies, habits of intemperance increased to such an extent,
and luxury became so general among all ranks of society, that
writers who mention the Egyptians at that period,* describe them
as a profligate and luxurious people, given to an immoderate love
of the table, and addicted to every excess in drinking. They
even used excitants for this purpose, and. hors-tVoeuvres were pro-
vided to stimulate the api^etite ,; crude cabbage provoking the
desire for wine, and promoting the continuation of excess.^
Beyond the usual joints which are seen on the altars and in
the hands of the servants, it is impossible to ascertain i:i what form
the meat appeared upon table,'' or what made-dishes and arti-
ficial viands the skill of their cooks succeeded in devising, but as
a portion of the kitchen is occasionally represented in the tombs,
and some details of Egyptian cookery are there given, I shall
avail myself of whatever has been preserved, and introduce the
most interesting part of those sculptures in the accompanying
woodcuts.
The first process, as previously described, was slaughtering
the ox, and cutting up the joints, the blood being sometimes
caught in a vase for the purpose of cookery ; "' and joints selected
for the purpose were boiled in a large caldron, placed over the
fire on a metal stand or tripod. One servant regulated the heat
of the fire, raising it with a poker or blowing it with bellows,
worked by the feet;^ another superintended the cooking of the
1 Diod. i. 45. Pint, de Isid. s. 8. 6 Bread and cakes had several fancy
2 Atl4cnaeus quotes Dion on this subject. forms, as the pyramid, rinfr, circular bis-
(Deipnos. lib. i. 25.) cnit. A cake in the British Museum, No.
3 Herodot. ii. 60. 5362, is in shape of .he head of a crocodile.
4 Josephus says the Egyptians (in his — S. B.
time) were abantloned to pleasures. (An- " Woodcut No. 300, fig. 2.
tiq. ii. 9.) s j shall have occasion to notice these
6 Athen. Deipnos. lib. i. 25. hereafter.
32
THE ANX'IENT EGYrXIANS.
I Chap. Vil.
o a?-
-5 «
V ^ _ •;;
■* "StSaT, "^ = 3 =•
— »- ^ t£: ».r c; «
-■' ?4 -i> t-^ ac v^?J o»
ti O S fL tc -S . • Cu
Chap. VII.] DIET AND COOKERY. 33
meat, skimming the water with a spoon, or stirring it with a large
fork,^ while a third pounded salt, pepper, or other ingredients
in a large mortar, which were added from time to time during
this process. Li(iuids of various kinds also stood ready for use.
They were sometimes drawn off b}' means of siphons,^ and these
appear to be represented u[)on a rope,^ supporting the tray which
contained the things they wished to raise beyond the reach of rats
or other intruders, and which answered the purposes of a safe.
Other servants took charge of the pastry, which the bakers or
confectioners had made for the dinner-table ; and this depart-
ment, which may be considered as attached to the kitchen,
appears even more varied than that of the cook. Some sifted and
mixed the flour,"^ others kneaded the paste with their hands,'^ and
formed it into rolls, which were then prepared for baking, and,
being placed on a long tray or board, were carried on a man's
head^ to the oven.'' Certain seeds were previously sprinkled
upon the upper surface of each roll,*^ and judging from those still
used in Egypt for the same purjjose, they were chiefly the N'ujella
sativa, or kamdon astved, the simsim^^ and the caraway.
Sometimes they kneaded the paste with their feet,!*^ having
placed it in a large wooden bowl upon tlie ground ; it was then
in a more liquid state than when mixed by the hand, and was
carried in vases to the pastry-cook, who formed it into a sort of
macaroni, upon a flattened metal pan over the fire. Two persons
were engaged in this process ; one stirred it with a wooden
spatula, and the other taking it off wlien cooked with two pointed
sticks,^^ arranged it in a pro^jcr place, where the rest of the pastry
was kept. This last was of various kinds, apparently made u})
with fruit, or other ingredients, with which the dough, spread
out with the hand, was sometimes mixed, and it assumed the
1 Woodcut No. 300, 7?grs. 4 and 5. represents a man kneeling-, carrj-injr a
2 This part of tlie picture is very mucli basl<et on his head, in which are four
damag-ed, but sufficient remains to show circular loaves of bread quite exposed to
them using- the siphons, whicii occur again, the air. — S. B.
perfectly preserved, in a torn!) at Tiiel)es. " Woodcut No. 301, figs. 19 and x.
They are introduced among the inventions 8 Ibid., figs. 11 and z, called oik by the
of the Egyptians. Eg>'ptians."
3 At A and f. '•' Sesamum oneniale, Linn. [There
* W^oodcut No. 301, figs. 13 and 14. were many varieties of bread, which was
6 Ibid., fig. 15. usually made of barlej' ; a circular biscuit,
o As at the present day. Conf jxiut, with the impression of four fincrers
Pharaoh's chief baker, with 'three white on one side; another kind, pes; the loaf,
baskets on his head' (CTen. xl. 16); and tep ; <a, bread in general. — S. B.]
Herodot. ii. 35, ' Men carry loads on their lo Conf. Herodot. ii. 36, and woodcut
heads, women on their shoulders.' But it No. 301, figs. 1 and 2.
was not the general custom. A bronze n Woodcut No. 301, _;?^5. 6 and 7, and Z.
figure in the British Museum, No. 2281,
34
THE ANX'IEXT EGYPTIANS.
[CUAP. VII.
ClIAP. VII. 1
COOKS.
35
shape of a three-cornered cake, a recumbent ox, or other form,^
according to the fancy of the confectioner. That his depart-
ment was connected with the kitchen ^ is again shown, by the
presence of a man in the corner of the picture engaged in
cooking lentils for a soup or porridge ; ^ his companion "* brings
a bundle of fagots for the fire, and the lentils themselves are
seen standing near him in wicker baskets.^
The caldrons containing the joints of boiled meat, which were
often of very great size, stood over a fire upon the hearth, sup-
ported on stones,^ having been taken from the dresser,' where
Q#^
g 4
No. 302. Cooking geese and different joints of meat. Tomh near the Pyramids.
Ji'igs. a a. .Joints in caldrons, on the dresser, 6. c. A table.
1. Preparing a goose for the cook (2), who puts them into the boiler, d.
3. Roasting a goose over a fire (e) of peculiar construction,
4. Cutting up tlie meat. /. .Joints on a table.
.9. 'Stewed meat over a pan of fire, or maf/oor.
they were placed for the convenience of putting in the joints ;
some of smaller dimensions, probably containing the stewed
meat, stood over a pan ^ containing charcoal, precisely similar to
the magoor., used in modern Egypt ; ^ and geese, or joints of meat,
were roasted over a fire of a peculiar construction, intended solely
for this purpose ; ^^ the cook passing over them a fan ^^ Avhich
served for bellows. In heating water, or boiling meat, fagots
1 Woodcut No. 301, fqs. d, f, q, h, ?", k.
/and ff appear to have the fruit apart from
the pastry. I found some cakes of the
form of /in a tomb at Thebes, but with-
out any fruit or other addition. Many of
different shapes have been found there.
- The chief baker of Pharaoii carried in
the uppermost basket 'all manner ofbake-
meats,' not only 'bread,' Imt 'all kinds of
food.' (Gen. xl. 17.) Anciently, the cook
and baker were the same, with the
Romans.
3 Fi(7. 9. * Fiq. 10. 5 At p.
6 Woodcut No. 302, at d.
' At b. 8 At e. 9 At g.
10 At e. 11 At f.
36 THE A^XIENT EGYPTIANS. [CuAi'. VII.
of wood were principaily employed, Ijut for the roast meat char-
coal, as ill the modern kitchens of Cairo ; and the sculptures
represent servants bringing this last in mats of the same form as
those of the present day. They sometimes used round balls fur
cooking, probably a composition of charcoal and other ingre-
dients, which a servant is represented taking out of a basket, and
putting on the stove, while another blows the fire with a fan.^
At an Egyptian party the men and women were frequently
entertained separately, in a different part of the same room, at
the upper end of which the master and mistress of the house sat
close together on two chairs, or on a large fauteuil ; each guest,
as he arrived, presented himself to receive their congratulatory
welcome,^ and the musicians and dancers, hired for the occasion,
did obeisance before them, previous to the performance of their
part. To the leg of the fauteuil a favorite monkey, a dog,
gazelle, or some other pet animal ^ was tied, and a young child
was permitted to sit on the ground at the side of its mother, or on
its father's knee. In some instances we find men and women
sitting together, both strangers,'* as well as members of the same
family ; ^ a privilege not conceded to females among the Greeks,
except with their relations : and this not only argues a very great
advancement in civilization, especially in an Eastern nation, but
proves, like many other Egyptian customs, hoAV far this people
excelled the Greeks in the habits of social life. With the Romans
it was customary for women to mix in society, and their notions
on this head are contrasted by Cornelius Nepos,^ with the scruples
of the Greeks, in these words : ' Which of us Romans is ashamed
to bring his wife to an entertainment? and what mistress of a
family can be shown who does not inhabit the chief and most
frequented part *of the house? whereas in Greece she never ap-
pears at any entertainments except those to which relations are
alone invited, and constantly lives in the uppermost part of the
house, called gpicecoiiitis,'' the women's apartments, into which
no man has admission, unless he be a near relation.'
1 The same kind of fan was used hv the the account of the produce hron^ht hv the
Greeks and Romans. It is represented in ships of Solomon, was not of Aryan deriva-
the paintings of Herculaneum. tion. Birds do not appear to have heen
2 Plate XI. pets or favoritics. — S. B.
8 Ihid. The cat and cynocephalic apes < They may ]>c m.arricd couples,
are sometimes represented; the monkev, ^ Woodcut No. 30.'J.
with its name qaf, is as old as the 4th 6 Cornel. Xepos. Pra>fat. in Vit. Ini-
Dvnastv, and its name, found in the I^atin peratorum, ad fin.
ceb-us, shows that the appellation found in " Answering' to the fiartfem of the East.
Chap. VII.]
SLAVES OFFERING WINE.
37
Wine, as I have already observed, was presented both to
matrons and maidens at an Egyptian feast ; and they were waited
upon by handmaids and female slaves, as the men were attended
by footmen and men slaves. An upper maid-servant, or a white
slave, had the office of handing the wine, or whatever refresh-
ment was offered them, and a black woman followed her, in an
inferior capacity, to receive an empty cup when the wine had
been poured from it into the gobiet, or to bring and take away
what it was the privilege of the other to present. The same
38
THE ANCIENT EGYPTIANS.
[Chap. VII.
black slaves brought the dishes as they were sent from the
kitchen ; and tlie })eculiar mode of holding a plate with the hand
reversed, so generally adopted by women from the interior of
Africa, is characteristically portrayed in the paintings of a tomb
at Thebes, given in the accompanying woodcut. To each person.
No. 304.
1 2 3
A black aud a white slave waiting upon a lady at a party.
Thebes.
after drinking, a napkin was presented for wiping the mouth,
answering to the mdhrama of the modern Egyptians and other
Eastern people ; and the servant who held it on his arm while
the person was drinking probably uttered a complimentary wish
as he proffered it, and received the goblet ; ^ for the custom of
saying, 'May it benefit you,' or some similar phrase, being so
general throughout the East, we cannot but suppose that it was
adopted by the ancient Egyptians, and that the mode of wel-
coming a stranger with salt, the emblem of hospitality, was com-
mon to them, as to the Romans and other peo])le of antiquity.
That dinner was served up at mid-day may be inferred from
the invitation given by Joseph to his brethren,^ but it is proba-
ble that, like the Romans, they also ate supper in the evening,
as is still the custom in the East. The table was very similar
to that of the present day in Egypt, which is a small stool,,
supporting a round traj^, on which the dishes are placed, and it
only differed from this in being raised upon a single leg, like
many of those used for bearing offerings in the sacred festivals
of their temples.
In early times the Greeks as well as Romans had similar
1 Woodcut No. 305, fig. 12.
- Gen. xliii. 16: 'Bring these men
home, and slay, and make ready; for these
men shall dine with me at noon.' The
Helirew expression ' slay,' n^lS H^lS, is
the same as the Arabic edbah dabeeh, ' kill
a killinsr.'
Chap. VII.]
A PARTY OF GUESTS.
39
rouiifl tables,! ill imitation, as some imagine, of the spherical shape
of the W(jrld ; ^ and, occasionally, each guest had a table to him-
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self ; 3 but from the mention of persons sitting in rows, according
to rank, it has been supposed that they were of a long figure,
1 Whence called orbes hv the Romans.
(Juv Sat. i. 137. Plin. xiii'. 1.5 )
2 Myileanus in Athen. lib. ,\i. c 12.
3 Athen? i. 8
40 THE ANCIENT EGYPTIANS. [Chap. YIT.
wliich may sometimes have hccn the case in Egy[)t, even during
the Pharaonic ages, since the brethren of Joseph 'sat before
him, the first-born accordimg to liis birthright, and the youngest
according to his youth,' ^ Joseph himself eating alone at another
table.^ It is not, however, certain that the table in this instance
was long, or in any way different from their usual round table,
since persons might, even then, be seated according to their rank
and the modern Egyptian table is not without its post of honor,
and a fixed gradation of place. No tray was used on the
EgjqDtian table, nor was it covered by any linen ; ^ like that of
the Greeks, it was probably wiped with a sponge ^ or napkin
after the dishes were removed, and polished by the servants ^
when the company had retired.
There has long been a question respecting the custom of re-
clining at meals, and its first introduction among the Greeks
and Romans. Some have supposed that it came directly to
Greece from Asia, and to Rome after the conquest of Carthage
and Asia Minor ; but it appears rather to have been gradually
introduced than borrowed at any particular time from a foreign
l^ieople. With great reason, however, we may believe that the
custom originated m Asia ; ^ and tlie only notice of it among the
Greeks in early times is found in sacred subjects, wdiere the
deities are represented reclining on couches,' evidently with a
view to distinguish their habits from those of ordinary mortals.
But when luxury increased, and men, 'inflated,' as Aristotle
observes, 'with the pride of victory, laid aside their previous
discrimination,' new modes of indulgence were devised, their
former simplicity was abandoned, and customs were introduced
which their ancestor considered suited to the gods alone.
That they derived their ideas respecting the use of couches
fi'om a positive custom is certain, since all notions abt)ut the
habits of the deities could only be borrowed from human anal-
ogies; we may therefore safely ascribe to it a foreign origin,
though not introduced at once, or merely adopted in imitation of
an Eastern custom. The principal [)erson at a festival is often
<lescribed as having reclined, while the others sat on chairs or on
' Gen. xliii.rj,,. 5 Whether of stone or woo.l. Poli-heil
2 Gen. xliii. 32: 'And they set on for wood is frequently found in the tombs of
him bv himself.' " Thebes.
;* Table-cloths were unknown in Rome « ^■Eneas and the Trojans reclined,
until the time of the Emperors (Mart. \ii. (Virir. -En. i. 700.)
9, 12). ■' Homer, Od' A, 112. " The iectisternia of the Romans.
Chap. VII. J THE USE OF WIIEATEX BKEAD. 41
the ground. At the Koman fete of the Epidum Jovis, Jupiter
reposed on a couch, while the other deities were seated ; and, in
Macedonia, no one coukl recline at meals till he had killed a
boar, without the help of nets. It was therefore, originally, a
mark of honor and distinction, and sometimes confined to men ;
but in process c^ time it became general, and was afterwards
adopted by all ranks. For we have evidence from many ancient
authorities that in early times neither the Greeks nor Romans
reclined at meals. Homer's heroes ^ sat on the gi-ound, or on
chairs ; Virgil,^ Tacitus, Ovid,-'^ Philo, and others mention the
same primeval custom ; and Suetonius '^ says that even the grand-
children of Augustus ' always sat at the end of the couch when
they su})ped with him.' ^
The ordinary Egyptian round table was similar to the ■mono-
podium of the Romans,^ and, instead of the movable tray used by
the modern Egyptians, its circular summit was fixed to the leg
on which it stood ; which, as I have before observed, frequently
presented the figure of a man, generally a captive, who supported
the slab upon his head, the whole being either of stone or some
hard wood. On this the dishes were placed, together with loaves
of bread," some of which were apparently not unlike those of the
present day, flat and round,^ as our crumpets, and others in the
form of rolls or cakes, sprinkled with the seeds before noticed.
In the houses of the rich, bread was made of wheat, the poroer
classes being contented with barley and flour of the sorghum ; ^
for Herodotus, as I have had occasion to observe in a former
work,!*^ has been guilty of an error in stating ^^ that it was con-
sidered among the Egyptians ' the greatest disgrace ' to live on
wheat and barley, and that ' they therefore made their bread of
1 Homer, Od. A, 108, &c. the other nations, perhaps Semitic, and of
2 Viry. ^En. i. 176: ' Soliti patres con- Asia Minor. — S. B.
sidere mensis.' 6 Juv. Sat. xi. 122.
3 Ovid. Fast. vi. 30.5. 7 ' Xo set on bread ' was the expression
■* Suet. Aus. e. fi4 : ' Neque coenavit used, as at present, in Epypt, for brinjjinnr
una nisi in imo lecto adsiderent.' dinner (Gen. xliii. 31). It is singularlhiit
5 The married woman amoncjst the /aA»» should siji'niiy, in Hebrew, 'bread;'
Assyrians and Greeks sat on a chair at the and, in Arabic, ' meat.'
foot of the couch on which the husband » These retain the form of the old
reclined, even in the late period of the 'cakes' baked 'upon the hearth' (Gen.
Roman Empire, it bein<i" immodest to lie xviii. 6), which are so jrenerallv used at
on a couch with a man, although the this day by the Arabs of the desert, with-
Roman ladies did so, as alluded to by out leaVeii. The bread of Upper Egypt is
Ovid. The Egyptians are never repre- more like the ancient Egyptian cake,
sented reposing on couches, and the Greek '■> J/olcus sorghxnn, Linn,
custom was probably derived from some of i" ' E"vpt and Thel)es,' p. 213.
11 Herod, ii. 3'i.
42
THE ANCIENT EGYPTIANS.
(Chap. VII.
the olyra} which some called zea/ ^ It is doubtful whether the
historian had in view the Triticum zea^ which is now no longer
grown in Egypt, or the sorghuni,^ the doura of the present day ;
but it is probable that he gives the name of olyra to this last;
and that it was grown in ancient times in Up})er and Lower
Egypt, particularly about the Thebaid, is evident from the sculp-
tures, though not in the same quantity as wheat. So far, however,
were the Egyptians from holding wheat and barley in abhorrence,
that they cultivated them abundantly throughout the whole
valley of the Nile,^ offered them to the gods, and derived from
them a great part of their sustenance, in common with whatever
other corn the soil produced ; and I fear that this, and his asser-
No. 306. Drinkiiig-oups.
Fig. 1. All alabaster beaker, inverted, in tlie JNIuseum of Alnwick Castle.
2. A saucer or cup of blue glazed pottery, in the Berlin Collection.
3. Side view of the same.
tion respecting the exclusive use of brazen drinking-cups,^ prove
Herodotus not to have lived in the best society during his stay
in Egypt.*^
' Pliny (xviii. 7) says, ' Far in ^sypto
ex olyra conficitur ;' hut not to the evcln-
sion of any other ;rrain; and we find in
the same author, ' /Enryptus . . . c tritieo
suo.' He also observes, that the olyra had
been supposed the same as rice, ' olyram et
oryzam candcm esse existimant;' and
afterwards (c. 8) distiii^;'uishcs it from the
zca, with which Herodotus has confounded
it. Homer feeds horses on tlie olyra, as
well as wheat and liarley; which last is
now jrivcn them in the East. (Homer, II.
E, 196.)
2 Bearinjr no relation to the Zea mays,
or Indian corn.
3 The Assyrian wheat and harley, he
affirms, had ' leaves four fingers in
Ijreadtii,' from wliich it has been con-
jectured tliat lie tlierc (lib. i. 193) alludes
to the sorgiunu ; but the expression ' wheat
and barley ' renders this very questionable.
■* Witness the sculptures, and Exod. ix.
31, 32: 'The barley w.as smitten ....
the wheat and the rye were not smitten ;
for they were not grown up.' Wheat iu
Egypt is about a month later than barley.
5 Herodot. ii. 37.
G If Herodotus had travelled, a few
years ago, in the north of our island, he
might, ]ierliaps, have made a similar re-
mark about the English and oatcakes.
Chap. VII. ]
TABLES AND DISHES.
43
The clrinking-cups of the Egyptians, as I have ah-eady ol)-
served, were of gold, silver, glass, porcelain, alabaster, bronze,
and earthenware.
They varied greatly in their forms : some were plain and
unornamented ; others, though of small dimensions, were made
after the models of larger vases , many were like our own cups
without handles ; and others may come under the denomination
of beakers and saucers. Of these the former were frequently
made of alabaster, with a round base, so that they could not
No. 307.
The table brought in with dishes upon it. Tombs near the Pyramids.
stand when filled, and were held in the hand, or, when empty,
were turned downwards upon their rim : and the latter, which
were of glazed pottery, had sometimes
lotus or fish represented on their con-
cave surface, which, when water was
j)Oured into the cups, appeared to
float in their native element.^
The tables, as at a Roman repast,
were occasionally brought in and re-
moved 2 with the dishes on them ;
sometimes each joint was served up
separately, and the fruit, deposited in
a plate or trencher, succeeded the meat
nt flip plncjA nf rlinnav merlin lace ^''^- 3"^- A cake of preserved dates,
at ine ClOSe Ol CUnnei , ana m less found at Xhebes. At a is a date
fashionable circles, particularly of the ®*°"®'
olden time, it was brought in baskets which stood beside the
table. The dishes consisted of fish ; meat boiled, roasted, and
dressed in various w-ays ; game, poultry, and a j)rofusion of vege-
1 Woodcut No. 306, ,/?«. 2.
the spoon in woodcut No. 285.
Fide also
2 Woodcut No. 307. Conf. Vir<
i. 723.
^En.
44
THE AXCIEXT EGYPTIANS.
[CiiAP. VIL
ta])les and fruit, particularly figs and grapes, during the season ;
and a soup, or pottage of lentils,^ as with the modern Egyptians,
was not an unusual dish. Of figs and grapes they were par-
ticularly fond, which is shown by their constant introduction
S ^ M-!=i CD •'^
a ci — " * S
!~' So K t? c = ^ -
•oC -5^ «r t.. ]
even among the qhoice offerings presented to the gods ; and figs
of the sycamore must have been highl}^ esteemed, since they
Avere selected as the heavenly fruit, given by the goddess Netpe^
to those who were judged worthy of admission to the regions of
1 Gen. XXV. 34 : ' .Jacob gave Esau
bread and pottage of lentiles.'
- Or Nut, the goddess of the ether oi
firmament. — S. B.
Chap. VII. I
MODE OF EATING.
45
eternal happiness. Fresh dates during the season, and in a
dried state at other periods of the year, were also brought to
table, as well as a preserve of the fruit, still so common in the
country,^ some of which I have found in a tomb at Thebes,
made into a cake of the same form as the tamarinds now brought
from the interior of Africa, and sold in the Cairo market.
The guests sat on the ground, or on stools and chairs ; and
having neither knives and forks, nor any substitute for them
No. 311.
Of wood.
British Museum.
No. 310. Fig. 1. Ivory spoon, about 4 inches long, in the
Berlin Museum, found with the vases
of woodcut No. 206.
2. Bronze spoon, 8 inches in length.
3, 4. Bronze spoons found by Burton at Thebes.
answering to the chopsticks of the Chinese, they ate with their
fingers, as the modern Asiatics, and invariably with the right
hand.'-^ Spoons were introduced at table when soup or other
liquids required their use, and, perhaps, even a knife ^ was
1 The ia nebs, ' bread of dates,' of the
lists. — S. B.
2 And also the Romans and .Tews, and
most nations of antiquity. The fork,
ligula, was introduced l.ate under the
Roman Empire ; it had only two pronjrs-
Several silver ones have been lately found
in Rome, and a bronze one at Kouyunjik.
— S. B.
3 Knives were used by the Romans at
table (.Juv. Sat. xi. 133; though they ate
with their fingers, whence ' raanus unctse'
(lior. Ep. i. 16, 23).
46
THE ANCIENT EGYPTIANS.
[Chap. VII.
employed on some occasions, to facilitate the carving of a large
joint, which is sometimes clone in the East at the present day.
The Egyptian spoons were of various forms and sizes, accord-
ing to the purposes for which they were intended. They were
])rincipally of ivory, bone, wood, or bronze, and other metals ;
No. 312.
Fifjs. \ , '1. Front and back of a wooden spoon.
3. Ivory spoon.
British Museum.
and in some the handle terminated in a hook, by which, if re-
quired, they were suspended to a nail.^ Many were ornamented
with the lotus flower : the handles of others were made to rep-
resent an animal or a human figure ; some were of a very arbi-
trary shape ; and a smaller kind, of a round form, probably
intended for taking ointment out of a vase and transferring it
to a shell or cup for immediate use, are occasionally discovered
in the tombs of Thebes. One in the Museum of Alnwick
No. 313.
Alabaster shell and spoon. Museum of Almcick Castle.
Castle is a perfect specimen of these spoons, and is rendered
more interesting from having been found with the shell, its
companion at the toilet table.^
Simpula or ladles were also common, and many have been
found at Thebes. They were of bronze, frequently gilt, and the
curved summit of the handle, terminating in a goose's head, a
favorite Egyptian ornament, served to suspend them at the side
1 Woodcut No. 310, Jig. 2.
2 Woodcut No. 313.
€hap. VII.] SPOONS AXD LADLES. 47
of a vessel after having been used for taking a liquid from it ;
and, judging from a painting on a vase in the Naples Museum,
where a priest is represented pouring a libation from a vase with
the simpulum, we may conclude this to have been the principal
purpose to which they were applied. The gilding may either
have been purely ornamental, or intended to prevent the noxious
effect of wine, or other acid liquid, after being left in contact
with it.^ The length of the one in my possession is eighteen
Ko. 314. Figs. 1, 2. Bronze simpula, in the Berlin Museum.
3. Of hard wood, in the same Museum.
4. Bronze simpulum, 1 foot 6 inches long. It has been gilt.
inches, and the lower part or ladle nearly three inches deep, and
two and a half in diameter: but many were much smaller, and
some were perhaps of a larger size.
Some simpula were made with a joint or hinge in the centre
of the handle, so that the upper half either folded over the other,^
or slid down behind it;^ the extremity of each being furnished
with a bar which held them together, at the same time that it
allowed the upper one to pass freely up and down. Two of these
are preserved in the Berlin Museum, where they have also a
ladle of hard wood* found with the case of bottles, which, as I
have elsewhere observed, either belonged to a doctor, or to a
lady's toilet table. It is very small ; the lower part, which may
be properly called the handle, being barely more than five inches
long, of very delicate workmanship ; and the sliding rod, which
rises and falls in a groove extending down the centre of the
handle, is about the thickness of a needle.
1 The}' arc tlie Greek kvathos, and were period. The handle slid up and down. —
dippetl into the ^-m/e?'. Tlieir a^ic is doubt- S. B.
ful, as they are not represented at a later 2 Woodcut No. 314, Jig. 1.
3 Ibid. fig. 2. i Ibid. fig. 3.
48 THE ANCIENT EGYPTIANS. [Chap. VII.
Small strainers or colanders of bronze have also been found
at Thebes, but seldom more than five inches in diameter, one of
Avhich is in the British Museum, with several other utensils.^
That they washed after as well as before dinner, we may be
allowed to conclude from the invariable adoption of this custom
throughout the East, and among most nations of antiquity, as
the Greeks,^ Romans,^ Hebrews,* and others : nor can we for a
moment suppose that a people peculiarly prepossessed in favor
of repeated ablutions, would have neglected so important an act
of cleanliness and comfort ; and Herodotus ^ speaks of a golden
basin, belonging to Amasis, which was used by the Egyptian
monarch, and 'the guests who were in the habit of eating at his
table.' 6
The heat of a climate like that of Egypt naturally pointed
out the necessity of frequent ablutions, and inclined them
to consider the use of water an agreeable indulgence : and
we frequently find many of the modern natives, who are not
obliged by a religious prejudice to observe the custom of
wasliing at meals, as particular in this respect as the Moslems
themselves."
The Greeks, at a remote period of their history, were not so
scrupulous in these matters, and were contented to wipe their
fingers, after meals, on pieces of bread-crumb (apomagdaliai^,
which they threw to the dogs ; ^ but it is probable that the
refreshing habits of cleanliness always existed in Egypt, even
when society was in its earliest stage. In later times the Greeks
used an absorbent to scour the hands, for which purpose nitre
and hyssop ^ were employed ; and though we have no evidence
of its prevailing among the Egyptians, we may infer they had a
1 It is a mere model or toy of a table, to a royal scribe named Tahuti for his scr-
No. 5315, with various-shaped vases, all vices, in the Museum of the I>ouvre, has
models or toys, and of small proportion. — been published in Mcmoiics de la Societe
SB. " des Antiquaries dc France,' t. xxiv. 8vo.
- Xenophon, Symposium : 'After they Paris, 1858. — S. B.
had done washing and «nointin<r, as wa's " I allude to the Copts of Cairo: I
the custom before meals.' Ilom. (Od. A, v. cannot, however, say that the monks of
52) mentions tlie use of watci' before meals; their convents are always so scrupulous
ami .Vristophancs, in the ' Wasps,' speaks or so cleanly, mistaken zeal leading them
of the custom, after eating. to construe the censure pronounced by
3 Virg. .En. 1. 701, Georg. iv. 377. Christ against the Pharisees, into a pro-
■* The Pharisee ' marvelled that he had hihition.
not first washed lieforc dinner.' (Luke xi. '' Wlience they were called wvai by the
38.) Lacedjemonians.
5 Herod, ii. 172. He calls it a foot- "' Couf. Psalm, li. 7. The Jews only
basin, irodavnrTno. used it as a sprinkler (Numb. xix. 18).
6 A gold patera given by Thothmes HI.
Chap. VIL] GRACE BEFORE MEALS. 49
tsiniilar custom, and, from lupins having been so long adopted in
the country for the same purpose, t' at the doqdq ^ of modern
Egypt is an old invention, handed down to and imitated by the
present inhabitants.
Soap was not unknown to the ancients, and a small quantity
has even been found at Pompeii. Pliny ^ mentions it as an
invention of the Gauls, and says it was made of fat and ashes ;
and Aretseus, the physician of Cappadocia, tells us that the
Greeks borrowed their knowledge of its medicinal properties from
the Romans. But there is no evidence of soap having been used
by the Egyptians ; and if accident had discovered something of the
kind while they were engaged with mixtures of natron or potash
and other ingredients, it is probable that it was only an absorbent,
without oil or grease, and on a par with steatite or the argilla-
ceous earths, with which, no doubt, they were long acquainted.
We know that this scrupulously religious people were never
remiss in evincing their gratitude for the blessings they enjoyed,
and in returning thanks to the gods for that peculiar protection
they were thought to extend to them and to their country, above
all the nations of the earth. It cannot, therefore, be supposed
that they would have omitted a similar acknowledgment pre-
vious to and after meals ; ^ and even if the impulse of their own
feelings had not dictated its propriety, the assiduous zeal of
their spiritual pastors, who omitted nothing which could inspire
the people with due respect for the Deity, would not have failed
to impose upon them so important a duty. But on this point
there is no need of conjecture : Josephus expressly states that
the custom of saying grace before meals was practised by the
Egyptians ; and when the seventy-two elders were invited by
Ptolemy Philadelphus to sup at the palace, Nicanor requested
Eleazar to say grace for his countrymen, instead of those Egyp-
tians to whom that duty was committed on other occasions.'^
The Greeks, and other nations of antiquity, offered a part of
what they were about to eat as jji^iinitice, or first fruits, to the
1 Pounded lupins, purposely prepared merciful God.' On risino- from table, each
for washing the hands after eating. repeats the ' El hamdoolillali,' ' Praised be
Ternies is the name of the lupin in Arabic, God.' From this use of tlie_ word bes-
and the ancient Egyptian, or Coptic, word millah, they say, ' Besmillah mana,' ' Will
is Oapjjio;. you in the name of God {i. e. eat) with us ? '
2 Pliny, xxviii. 12. " •* Joseph. Antiq. xii. 2, 12.
s Tlie Moslems, before eating, say s Horn. II. K, 219; Odyss. I, 231.
' Besmillah,' or ' liesm Allah e'rahman Athen. iv. 27.
e"rahecm,' ' In the name of the kind and
VOL. II. 4
50 THE A>X'IEXT EGYPTIANS. [Chap. YIL
gods ; and it is pr()l)able that, besides a thanksgiving, the
religious Egyptians commenced their repasts with a simihir
ceremony.
We cannot suppose that this people were so addicted to the
pleasures of the world ^ as to depreciate in their conviviality
all moral and religious feelings, or to have been more disposed
than the generality of men on similar occasions to forget futurity
in the pleasures of the moment, though this has been frequently
urged against the Egyptians ; and because they were guilty of
excesses ^ at the table, some have not scrupled to consider them
immoral and depraved. But if they were fond of luxury, and ill
the mirth in wdiich a lively people naturally indulge ; if they
banished religious thoughts during the hour of festivity, and
allowed themselves to give way to occasional intemperance, it is
unjust to throw the stigma of immorality upon the whole nation;
and few civilized communities of modern Europe would desire
to be judged with the same severity.
It was a custom of the Egyptians, during (or according to
Herodotus after) their repasts, to introduce a wooden image of
Osiris,^ from one foot and a half to three feet -in height, in the
form of a human mummy, standing erect, as Plutarch informs us,
■ " a case, or lying on a bier, and to show it to each of the guests,*
warning him of his mortality, and of the transitory nature of
human pleasures. He w^as reminded that some day he would be
like that figure; that men ought 'to love one another, and avoid
those evils which tend to make them consider life too long, when
in reality it is too short ; ' and while enjoying the blessings of
this world, to bear in mind that their existence was precarious,
and that death, which all ought to be prepared to meet, must
eventually close their earthly career.^ Thus, while the guests
1 Joseplius says, 'The Eg,vptians are a •* Herodot. ii. 78. Pint, de Isid. s. 15;
peevish, lazv sei of people.'abandoiied to and Sept. Sapient. Conv. p. 153. Dr.
their pleasures, and their very souls set Youn?, Hier. Lit. p. 101.
upon profit, let it come which wav it will.' 5 Several small mummied figures of
(Aiitiq. ii. 9.) This was in the late ase of stone, clay, or wood, placed in model
Vespasian, when thev werfe a verv ditfcrent sarcopha<;i or coffins of the same material,
people from the E^-'vptians of a Pharaonic have lieen supposed either to be these
period, and no lono-er a nation. fiirures, or else enibalmers' models. The
- The Romans, under the emperors, figures or coffins have irenerally the 6th
committed unheard-of excesses. Seneca chapter of the Ritual or Book of the Dead
says, ' Vomunt ut edant, edunt ut vomaut.' inscribed upon them. Several are in the
"3 The E"-vptians made their mummies British INIuseum. (' Synopsis of the Con-
in the form of Osiris, and the deceased, as tents of tlie Museum : First and Second
soon as he had passed the ordeal of his Eo-yptian Rooms,' 8vo. Load., 1874, p. 84.)
final judgment, was admitted into the — S. B.
presence of the deity, whose name was
then prefixed to his own.
;iiAP. VIJ] INTRODUCTION OF IMAGE OF OSIRIS.
51
-jj loral ^I'li^itted, and even exhorted to indulge in conviviality,
dcnibt '^sures of the table, and the mirth so congenial to their
' -leath^^^^P*^^^^^^^^' ^^^® prudent solicitude of the priests did not
fail ,^0 watch over their actions, and, by this salutary hint, to
show them the propriety of putting a certain degree of restraint
upon their conduct ; and by avoiding any indiscreet prohibition
of those amusements in which men will indulge, in spite of
mistaken zeal (too often dictated by a mind devoid of experience,
and frequently of sincerity), these guardians of morality obtained
the object they had in view, without appearing to interfere.
Figures of a mummy in form of Osiris, brouglit to an Egyptian table,
and shown to the guests.
If, as was necessarily the case, all the guests were not im-
pressed with the same feelings by the introduction of this moral
sentiment, the custom was not thereby rendered in any degree
objectionable, since a salutary lesson neglected loses not its
merit ; and however it may have been corrupted by others, who
adopted the external form without the true feeling of the original,
it must be confessed that the object was good and deserving of
commendation. Perverted by the Greeks, this warning of the
temporary pilgrimage of man served as an inducement to enjoy
the pleasures of life while in this world, as if death closed the scene
and no prospect was held out of a future existence ; a notion
directly at variance with the maxims of the Egyptians, and the
constant mindfulness they were exhorted to cherish of an here-
after : and we find that the Gi-eeks advocated the principle 'Live
while you may ' with unblushing earnestness. The beauties of
52 THE ANCIENT EGYPTIANS. [Chap. ^
poetry Mvere suninioned to assist in its recommencla-jjjo- t ^■e.^
every lover of excess welcomed and adopted it, with sei simil
evincing the same spirit as the exhortation of Trimalchio . -^e"V'
is thus given by Petronius Arbiter : ' To us, wlio were dr f .vine ^^q
and admiring the splendor of the entertainment, a silver model ""iv
. of a man was brought by a servant, so contrived that its joints
and movable vertebrae could be bent in any direction. After it
had been produced upon the table two or three times, and
had been made, by means of springs, to assume different attitudes,
Trimalchio exclaimed, "Alas, unhappy lot, how truly man is
nought ! Similar to this shall we all be, when death has carried
us away : therefore while we are allowed to live, let us live well." ' ^
The same sentiments were used by the Jews in the time of
Solomon, and ' the ungodly ' of his time thus expressed them-
selves: ' Our life is short and tedious, and in the death of a man
there is no remedy : neither was there anj^ man known to have
returned from the grave. For we are born at all adventure,
and we shall be hereafter as though we had never been. . . .
come on, therefore, let us enjoy the good things that are pres-
ent, ... let us fill ourselves with costly wine and ointments ;
and let no flower of the spring pass by us : let us crown our-
selves with rosebuds, before they be withered ; let none of us
go without his part of our voluptuousness ; let us leave tokens
of our joyfulness in every place.' ^
The intent, however, of this custom, with the Egyptians, was
widely different ; and even if from long habit and the increase of
luxurious manners, the grood warning it was intended to convev
was disregarded, or failed in its effect, still the original intention
was good, and cannot, in justice, be condemned as tending to
immorality : and though Herodotus, who merely says that the
guests were requested to ' observe that man, whom they would
all resemble after death,' and were exhorted 'to drink and enjoy
themselves,' omits to inform us if it was designed to inculcate a
1 Anacreon, Od. 4. Her. Od. ii. 3, 13. pasts are also in Egyptian collections, and
With this may be compared the transhi- the same may have suji^;;csted the silver
tion «iven of tlie tonih of Sardanapalus at model of Trimalchio. This idea of min-
Tarsiis; and somcthin;f of tlic same kind jrlinjr sadness with mirth, tlic ima-ie of
and tone is found on the tablet of Paslie- death with that of life, has prevailed at all
rienptah from Memphis, made in the reign times and periods. The image of death in
of Cleopatra and Cfesarion. — S. B. more recent times has liecn the skull or the
- Petron. Satyric. c. 34, ad fin. These skeleton. — S. H.
neurospasts or marionettes arcnot nncom- ^ Book of Wisdom ii. 1, et seq. Conf.
mon. Several, supposed to be dolls made Eccles. ii. 24; Isaiah xxii. 13. and Ivi. 12;
of painted terra-cotta, have been found in Luke xii. 19; and 1 Cor. xv. 32.
the sepulchres of Athens. Bronze ncuros-
Chap. VII. J SINGULAR FEAT. 53
moral lesson, Plutarch expressly asserts this, and removes all
doubt respecting the object the}' had in view. The idea of
death among the ancients Avas less revolting than among Euro-
peans and others at the present day ; and so little did the
Egyptians object to have it brought before them, that they
even introduced the mummy of a deceased relative at their
parties, and placed it at table as one of the guests — a fact
which is recorded by Lucian ^ in his ^ Essa}' on Grief,' and of
wliich he declares himself to have been an eye-witness.
After dinner, music and singing were resumed ; men and
women performed feats of agility, swinging each other round
by the hand, or throwing up and catching the ball ; and the
numerous tricks of jugglers, both in the house and out of
doors, were introduced to amuse the company.
Part of a similar scene at a Greek entertainment is described
in the * Banquet ' of Xenophon. A little boy, two dancing girls,
and a jester named Philip, were present on that occasion, and one
of the former began by displaying her skill in throwing uj) her
cymbals and catching them, to the tune of a flute played by her
companion. A hoop was then brought, round which a number of
swords were fixed, and the same dancing girl jumped in and out
of the hoop with perfect confidence, and, without receiving any
injur}', afforded infinite delight and satisfaction to the guests: and
gave occasion to Socrates, who was present, to make some general
remarks on the courage of women, and to observe that they 'are
capable of learning anything you will they should know.' Then"
standing upright, she bent backwards, and touching her heels
with her head, flung herself round swiftly three or four times, in
imitation of a wheel ; occasionally reading and writing at the
same time that she was going through this rotatory movement.
Every one expressed his delight at this exhibition of her agility ;
and Philip, pretending to imitate her by throwing himself in the
same manner forwards, offered a strikino- contrast to the g-race
she had exhibited, and excited the ridicule of the party.
The singular feat here descrilied is more interesting, as it
bears some resemblance to one of those indicated in the paintings
illustrating the customs of the Egyptians at an era far more
remote, dating no less than 1300 years before the age of Socrates,
where women are represented turning over backwards, either
singly or in pairs. In the latter case, the head of one was placed
1 And by Damascenus, Orat. i.
54
THE ANCIENT EGYPTIANS.
IChap. VII.
between the legs of the other, front to front, but in such a manner
that when one was standing the head of tlie other was down-
wards, and tlie feet over the neck ; and in this position they
turned over, the feet of each alternately reaching tlie ground. ^
Fu). 3.
So. 31G.
Women tumbling, and performing feats of agility. lieni-Hassdn.
The most usual games within doors were odd and even,
mora? and draughts. The first of these was played also by the
1 There is no appearance of the Cottabus,
so fully described by Alhenseus, which was
supposed to have passed from Sicilv into
Greece. - Woodcut No. 317.
Chap. VII.]
THE GAME OF MORA.
55
Romans, and called ' liidere par et impar,' but considered better
suited to the levity of young persons^ than to the gravity of a
more advanced age ; and Horace^ looked upon it in the same
light as the trifling amusements of building children's houses,
yoking mice to carts, and riding on a stick.^ According to
J. Pollux, they used bones, aatragali^ beans, nuts, almonds, or
coins, in the game of odd and even, and any indefinite number
was held between the hands."^
Fir/. 1, Playing at mora.
2. At odd aud eveii.
Thebes.
The second was common in ancient as well as modern Italy,
and was played by two persons, who each simultaneously threw
out the fingers of one hand, while one party guessed the sum of
both. They were said in Latin, ' micare digitis,' ^ and it is re-
markable that a game, still so common among the lower orders of
Italians, with whom it bears the name I have adopted, should be
found to have existed in Egypt from the earliest periods of which
their paintings remain, even in the reign of the first Usertesen.^
The same antiquity may be claimed for the game of draughts,
or, as it has been erroneous!}^ called, chess. As in the two for-
mer, the players sat on the ground or on chairs,' and the pieces
or men being ranged in line at either end of the table, probably
moved on a chequered board, as in our own chess and draughts ;
but the representations being always given in profile, it is im-
possible to ascertain the exact appearance or the number of
squares it contained.*^
1 And to the lower orders.
2 Hor. Sat. ii. 3, 247.
3 Ag'esilaus is mentioned by Plutarch
as makinor ' a hobby-horse of a reed, and
riding with his children.' (Plut. ' Life of
Agesilaus.')
* J. Pollux, Onom. ix. 7. lie describes
another parae, which was throwing the
same l)ones or coins within a ring, and
also into a hole, well known in modern
times : this last was called rpon-u.
5 .Juv. Sat. Cicero, de Divin. lib. ii.
says, ' Quid enim sors est ? idem prope-
modum quod micare, quod talos jaccre,
quod tesseras.' OtRc. iii. 23. Suet. Aug.
13. The ' sortiri digitis,' iiraX/.dTTtiv rovi
6aKTV?.ov(, was ditferent.
6 ]Most of the games were as old as the
4th Dvnastv.
' Woodcuts Xos. 319 and 322.
^ They generally iilayed»Avith six pieces,
and the set of each player was alike, but
66
THE ANCIENT EGYPTIANS.
[Chap. VII.
The pieces were all of the same size and fonn, though they
varied on different boards, some being small, others large with
round summits ; many were of lighter and neater shajje, like
No. 318.
Draujibtiiien.
llritish Museian.
Fiq. 1. From the sculptures of Rameses III.
2. Of wood.
3. Of porcelain, human-headed.
4. Of porcelain, inscribed with the name and titles of Necho I.
5. Wooden draughtman.
6. Of porcelain, cat-headed.
7. Of porcelain, jackal-headed.
small nine-pins — probably the most fashionable kind, since they
were used in the palace of king Rameses. These last seem to
have been about one incli and a half hio-h, standino- on a circular
distinct from iliat of his opponent. Tlic
most ordinary form was the cone or
conoid, either phiin or else surmounted hya
pointed or spherical liead ; hut there were
several varieties of shapes, as in woodcut
No. 318. A very old type of , porcelain in
the British Museum, No. 6143a, is a human
head, and no douht represents '
► the t'a
or rohbcr, the latro of the Roman draujrlit-
board, said to he made of i;lass, and sup-
posed by some to have been a single piece;
another type was cat- or possibly do<r-
headed (British Museum, No. 6414) ; and
another, decidedly dofr- or jackal-headed
(No. 6414h), of«lilack porcelain, probalily
represented the kmn, or do".'-, as the Greeks
called tiiese pieces. The ffame was one of
the dclii,dits of the Ejryptian Elysium, and
played in the future state, accordinfr to the
17th chapter of the I'itual, anil boards and
men, live of one kind and four of the
other, are sometimes represented in the
sarcopha^n of the 11th Dvnastv. (Lcpsius,
' Die aelteste Tcxte,' taf. 9.)" The boards
had 9 squares one wa}-, and 17 the other;
in all 153 squares. They were alternately
colored red and black." To this I shall
recur. The drauirhtmcn were called ab.
\\\ account of tlie <,'^ames is jriven bv
Birch, 'Rev. Arch.' 1864, p. .")6; ' Zeit-
sclirift fiir aejryptischc Sprache,' 1866, p. 97 ;
Trans. Rov. Soc. Lit., New Series, i\. p.
256. — S. iJ.
Chap. VII.]
THE GAME OF DllAUGHTS.
67
base of half an inch in diameter ; and one in n\y possession, which
I brought from Thebes, of a nearly similar type, is one inch and
a quarter in height, and little more than half an inch broad at
the lower end. It is of hard wood, and was doubtless painted of
some color, like those occurring on the Egyptian monuments.
They were all of equal size upon the same board, one set
black, the other white or red, standing on opposite sides,^ and
each player raising it with the finger and thumb advanced his
piece towards those of his opponent ; but though we are unable
to say if this was done in a direct or a diagonal line, there is
L'l I ^
No. 3iy.
Game of draughts.
Beni-Hassan and Thebes.
reason to believe they could not take backwards, as in the Polish
game of draughts, the men being mixed together on the board.^
[The board of the game was called
or
sent ; and a small box with draughtmen, a&, found at Thebes,
was in the Abbott Collection, and is figured by M. Prisse
d' Avenues.^ It was cut of a solid piece of wood, and was 28 in.
long by 7 in. broad, the Latin Mandra^ and had cut in on the
sides the squares for the games. On one side it was divided
into thirty squares ; three on the breadth, and ten down the length.
On the opposite side, at one end, was a space of twelve squares,
three along the breadth and four deep, and from the middle line
eight other squares were continued to the other end of the board,
the rest of which was plain. M. Prisse d' A venues conjectures that
1 Jul. Pollux-, Onom. ix. 7, on a ^-ame of
tessera, \\,fiipoi, of this kind, where the men,
or dojrs, as they called them, on the two
opposite sides, were of a ditferent color.
Anotiicr similar e^ame, called cjiayoafinta/jo;,
is there r.icntioned. It is remarkable that
the name doL"- Ikelb) is applied also by the
Arabs to their draujjhtmen. J. Pollux
was a Greek writer who lived about the
j'ear 185 a.d. Some suppose the Roman
fjame of duodecim scripta to have resembled
draunhts, but the moves were generally
determined by throwinj,'' dice.
2 As in woodcut No. 319, fie/. 1.
3 ' Monuments Etryptiens,' pi. xlix. p. 9.
58
THE ANCIENT EGYPTIANS.
[Chap. VII.
this was the hiei'a gramme^ or sacred line of the Greek ^^\x\e petteia.
A small drawer, with a stud, drew out of the box, and held the
pieces, some of which resembled reels. Besides the game of
petteia, it was thought the square suggested the diat/nanmiwios
of the Greeks, and the duodecim scripta of the Romans, analo-
gous to the game of draughts, the invention of which Plato ^ says
was attributed to Thoth. — S. B.]
It was an amusement common in the houses of the lower
classes and in the mansions of the rich; and king Kameses is
himself portrayed on the walls of his palace at Thebes, engaged
in the game of draughts with the favorites of his liareem.
vrn
EnnunDnrcnn,
nnnn
No. 320.
rauglit-bnards.
Dr. Abbott's Collection.
The modern Egyptians have a game of draughts very similar,
in the appearance of the men, to that of their ancestors, which
they call dameh, and play much in the same manner as our own.
[In the tomb of Ra neps, of the 5th Dynasty ,2 at Saqqarah, is rei)re-
sented anotl)er kind of game, called X" — fl J ^\ ^ D Mh em han,
the orame of the vase. The board is circular, and has ten con-
centric bands, along which the pieces move to the centre, where
the bands terminate in a kind of lune. One player has seven flat
circular pieces, like .modern draughts, on the last or innermost
lines ; the other has three pieces, one of which he is in the act
of placing in the centre, and so winning the game. The vase is
represented above the board, which was of large dimensions..
An adjoining scene represents the usual draughts. — S. B.]
1 Phaedo, p. 274.
2 Lepsius, Denkm. ii. Bl. 61a.
Chap. VII.J
GAME OF DRAUGHTS.
59
Analogous to the game of odd and even was one in which two
of the phij^ers hekl a number of shells or dice in their closed
hands, over a third person who knelt between them, with his face
towards the ground, and who was obliged to guess the combined
number ^ ere he could be released from this position ; unless
indeed it be the kollabismos of the Greeks,^ in whicli one person
1 This T conjecture from the mode of
vepresenting it. Vide woodcut No. 323.
2 .Jul. Pollux, Onom. ix. 7.
cut Xo. 324.
Vide wood-
60
THE ANX'IENT EGYPTIANS.
[CUAP. VIL
covered his eyes, and guessed which of the other players struck
hini.^
-'• The inscription is difficult to explain : it reads ha ua em ah qa. It is doubtful il this
is a game. — S. B.
Chap. VII.
OTHER GAMES.
61
Another game consisted in endeavoring to snatch from each
other a small hoop, by means of hooked rods, probably of metal ;
and the success of a player seems to have depended on extri-
cating his own from the adversary's rod, and then snatching up
the hoop before he had time to stop it.^
No. 323.
Playing at the game called Vase.
Saqqarah.
Some other games are represented in the paintings, but not
in a manner to render them intelligible ; and many which were
doubtless common in Egypt, are omitted both in the tombs and
in the writings of ancient authors. It is, however, evident that
dice were already used by the Egyptians in the reign of Rhamp-
AulU ci^ra
No. 324.
A game perhaps shnilar to the Greek kollahismos.
Beni-Hassan.
sinitus ; that monarch, according to Herodotus, being reported
to have played with the goddess Ceres ; ^ for the allegorical
meaning of the story in no way militates against the fact of such
a game having been known at the period in question, and the
Egyptians, his informants, were necessarily persuaded that it
dated at least as early as his era.^
1 Woodcut No. .32.5. It is taken from
Prof. Rosellini's work. I suppose this to
be tlieir mood of playing with the hoop.
2 Herod, ii. 122.
3 No dice have been found in Egypt
older than the Roman period, nor have
62
THE ANX'IEXT EGYPTIANS.
[Chap. VII.
I do not suppose that the dice discovered at Thebes and other
phices are of a very remote epoch ; they may not even be of a
Pharaonic period, but the simplicity of their form and mode of
notation may lead us to suppose them similar to those of the
earliest age, in which too the conventional number of six sides
No. 325.
Game with hoop.
Li ni- Hassan.
had probably always been adopted.^ They Avere marked with
small circles, representing units, generally M'ith a dot in the
centre ; and those I have seen were of bone or ivory, varying
slightly in size.
Plutarch would lead us to believe that dice were a very early
invention in Egypt, and acknowledged to be so by the Egyptians
No. 326.
Dice found in Kgypt.
/;< liin Musi urn.
themselves, since they were introduced into one of their oldest
mythological fables ; Mercury being represented playing at dice
Avith tlie moon ^ previous to the birth of Osiris, and winning from
her the five days of the epact, which were added to complete the
365 days of the year.
The modern Egyptians have a game called in Arabic munuala.
thoy been recogriized in the inscriptions or
texts. Nor are there any rcpi-csentations
of playinij at dice in the earlier or ohler
sepulchres. — S. R.
1 J. Pollux, Onom. lih. ix. c. 7. The
Ilonians and Greeks had another kind of
fall, or lirrroiiyoP.oi, with four sides only
ni;uked, tlie 2 and 5 being omitted. (J.
Pollux, ibid.)
- Pint, de Is. S. 12 : -nai^avra tutti'iu Ttgbc
Chap. VII.] GAMES OF CHANCE. 63
which is traditionally reported to have been borrowed from their
ancient predecessors ; but as a full description of it has been
o-iven by Mr. Lane, in his curious and accurate account of the
customs of modern Egypt,^ it is unnecessary here to repeat it. ^
It is probable that several games of chance were known to-
tiie Egyptians besides dice and mora^ and, as with the Romans,
that many a doubtful mind sought relief in the promise of suc-
cess, by having recourse to fortuitous combinations of various
kinds ; and the custom of drawing or casting lots, to decide a
disputed question, was common at least as earl}' as the period
of the Hebrew Exodus.^
Among the various methods adopted by the Romans for as-
certaining the probable accomplishment of a wish, one of the most
singular was that of shooting up the fresh pips of an apple,^ by
squeezing them between the finger and thumb, and endeavoring
ti) strike the ceiling while seated at table ; and the success or
failure of the attempt augured in favor or against their good
fortune, in obtaining the affections of a favorite, or whatever
object they had in view. Such scenes cannot of course be looked
f(U' among the subjects of the Egyptian sculptures ; but that they
were superstitious observers of accidental occurrences, and
inferred , from them the chance of certain results, is proved
to us by the testimony of those who visited the country : for
* whenever,' says Herodotus,* ' anything extraordinary occurs,
they note it down in writing, and pay particular attention to the
events which follow it ; and if at a subsequent period something
of a similar kind happens to take place, they feel persuaded it
will be attended with the same result.'
The games and amusements of children were such as tended
to promote health by the exercise of the body, and to divert the
mind by laughable entertainments. Throwing and catching the
ball, running, leaping, and similar feats, were encouraged, as soon
as their age enabled them to indulge in them ; and a young
child was amused with painted dolls, whose hands and legs,
moving on pins, were made to assume various positions by means
of strings.^ Some of these were of rude and uncertain form, with-
1 Lane's ' Modern Egyptians,' vol. ii. p. 3 Hor. Sat. ii. 3, 273; and J. Pollux,
47. ■ ix. c. 7.
■^ Conf. Leviticus xvi. S: 'And Aaron * Herod, ii. 82.
cast lots upon the two goats.' The Hebrew 5 Conf. Herod, ii. 48, who mentions an-
word is ^-[•^3 g6rel, as in Joshua xviii. 10. other kind of figure carried at 'the feast of
T Bacchus.'
64
THE A:>fCIENT EGYPTIANS
[Chap. YIL
out legs, or with an imperfect representation of a single arm on
one side. Some had numerous beads, in imitation of hair, hanging
fnnn the doubtful place of the head ; others exhibited a nearer
12 3
No. 327. "Wooden dolls. British Museum.
Fig. 1. Flat. 2. Ornamented with Taur. 3. Holes for hair on bead.
approach to the form of a man ; and some, made with considerable
attention to proportion, were small models of the human figure.
They were colored according to fancy ; the most shapeless had
No. 328.
Children's toys.
Leyden Museum,
usually the most gaudy appearance, being intended to catch the
eve of an infant ; but a show of reality was deenuMl more suited
Chap. VII. ]
THE GAME OF BALL.
60
to the taste of an elder child; and the nearer their resemblance
to known objects, the less they partook of artificial ornament.
Sometimes a man was figured washing, or kneading dough, the
necessary movement indicative of the operation being imitated
by pulling a string ; and a Typhonian monster, or a crocodile,
amused a child by its grimaces, or the motion of its opening-
mouth ; plainly showing that children, in all ages, delight in the
No. 329.
1 3
Phtviug the game of ball mounted on each other's backs. Beni-Hassan.
•
No. 330.
Throwing up and catching one, two, and three balls. Beni-Hassan.
frightful, and play with objects which, if real, they would shudder
to behold. In the toy of the crocodile we have sufficient evi-
dence that the erroneous notion of Herodotus, who states that
this animal ' does not move the lower jaw, and is the only crea-
ture which brings the upper one down to the lower,' 1 did not
originate with the Egyptians : but we are not surprised at this
assertion when we recollect how easily the motion of the head of
I
1 Herod, ii. 68.
5
6Q
THE ANCIENT EGYPTIANS.
[Chap. Vll.
m
i
the crocodile is mistaken for that of the upper jaw. Like other
animals, it moves the lower jaw onli/ ; but when seizing its prey,
the head being thrown up gives the appearance of motion in the
^ upper jaw, and readily
leads those who see it into
this erroneous conclusion.^
The game of ball was
not confined to children,
or to either sex, though
tlie mere amusement of
throwing and catching it
appears to have been con-
sidered more particularly
adapted to females.^ They
had different methods of
playing.^ Sometimes a
person unsuccessful in
catching the ball was
obliged to suffer another
to ride on her back, who
continued to enjoy this
post until she also missed
it : the ball being thrown
by an opposite party,
mounted in the same
manner, and placed at a
certain distance, according
to the space previously
fixed by the players ; and,
from the position and office
of the person who had
failed, it is not improbable
that the same name was
applied to her as to those
in the Greek game, who
were called vi'ol or 'asses,' and were obliged to submit to the
commands of the victor.'*
1 There is in the British >rnseum the
wooden head of a bird, part of a toy. This
head moved l)y a strin^i'. Also several
jiorcehiin or earthenware fruits, sueh as
the date, almond, fijr, &c., made for chil-
dren, and used as toys. — S. B.
- Not so with the Romans.
8 J. I'ollux, Onom. ix. c. 7, describes
various jrames of ball.
•» Ibid., i\-. c. 7. Woodcut No. 329.
[From the appearance and especially the
arrang'cmcnt of the hair of these women,
Chap. VII.]
THE GAME OF BALL.
67
Sometimes they showed their skill in catching three or more
balls in succession, the hands occasionally crossed over the breast ;
and the more simple mode of throwing it up to a height, and
catching it, known to the Greeks by the name of ovQari(t^^ was
common in Egypt. They had also the game described by Homer
to have been played by Haliiis and Laodamas, before Alcinous,
in which one party threw the ball as high as he could, and the
other, leaping up, caught it on its fall, before his feet again
touched the ground.^
When mounted on the backs of the losing party, the Egyptian
women sat sidewise. Their dress consisted merely of a chort
petticoat, without a l^od}-, the loose upper robe being laid aside
No. 332.
Fig. 1. Leather ball, three inches in diameter. British Museum.
2. Of (lark and light blue painted earthenware.
on these occasions : it was bound at the waist with a girdle,^
and supported by a strap over the shoulder, and was nearly the
same as the undress garb of mourners, worn during the funeral
lamentation on the death of a friend.
There is no appearance of anything resembling rackets ; nor
is the Roman game of striking the ball with the hand"* repre-
sented in the Egyptian sculptures : but we can draw no
inference from their absence ; and, considering the remote
antiquity of the paintings, it is singular that aii}^ should have
it is evident that they were professional
ilancers or jiiffu'lers. The action seems
pantomimic, and an imitation of a charge
or fiwht, the dancers hurling balls instead
of javelins. — S. B.]
1 From being thrown up as rot/ ovpnvov,
'to the sky.'
2 Horiicr. Od. e, 374. J. Pollux, ix. 7;
and woodcut No. 331, 7?r;. 1.
3 As the women in mourning. Herodot.
ii. 85. [Exposing the breast, however,
was not unusual; the women of highest
rank being draped in the same manner.
Egyptian women had but one dress, a long
tunic, called basui, reaching from the
breast to the ankles, suspended by straps
of linen, or braces, tm)(U, passing overthe
shoulders. — S. B.]
■♦ One of these was the follis, inflated
like our football, called also pila or Tpila
velox, and struck with the arms : the
other was smaller, and struck with the
hand, on which tliey wore a sort of
gauntlet; whence it was called /bWis />m-
gillatorius.
68
THE ANCIENT EGYPTIAN.S.
ICliAP. YIL.
been preserved to this late period, to give us an insight into
their customs and amusements.
The balls were made of leather or skin, sewed with string,
crosswise, in the same manner as our own, and stuffed with bran
or husks of corn ; and those which have been found at Thebes are
No. 333.
Men swinging women round by the arms.
Beni- Hassan.
about three inches in diameter. Others were made of the stalks
of rushes, plaited together so as to form a circular mass, and are,
like the former, covered with leather ; instances of both which
occur in the British Museum. They appear also to have had a
smaller kind of ball, probably of the same materials, and covered,
No. 334.
1 2
Kising from tlie ground as they held each other.
Benl-Hassan.
like many of our own, with slij)s of leather of a rhomboidal shape.
sewed together longitudinally, and meeting in a common point
at both ends,^ each alternate slip being of a different color j^
1 Woodcut No. ZZ2,fig. 2. 2 Homer descril)es one of a purple color: Od. O, 372.
€uAP. VII.] FEATS OF STRENGTH AND DEXTEIJITY,
69
but, as these have only been met with in pottery, it is uncertain
whether they were really imitations of leather bails, or solely
made of those materials, and used for some other purpose con-
nected with the toys of
children.
Sometimes, in their
performances of strength
and dexterity, two men
stood together side by side,
and, placing one arm for-
ward and the other behind
them, held the hands of
two women, who reclined
backwards, in opposite di-
rections, with their whole
weight pressed against
each other's feet, and in
this position were whirled
round ; the hands of the
men who held them being
sometimes crossed, in order
more effectually to guar-
antee the steadiness of
the centre, on which they
turned.
Sometimes two men,i
seated back to back on the
ground, and passing the
elbows of the opposite arms
within each other, endeav-
ored to rise in that posi-
tion, without touching the
ground with the disen-
gaged hand ; each, prob-
ably, trying to rise before
his companion, and striv-
ing to prevent his success,
in order to obtain the merit or the reward of superior dexterity.
Another game consisted in throwing a knife, or pointed
1 Woodcut No. 334. The inscription is not clear: the first word means 're-
a-eads menq an hu, ov an iu,h\\X the sense posing; ' the two refer to the action. — S.B.
70
THE ANCIENT EGYPTlANb.
[Chap. VII.
weapon, into a block of wood, in wliich each player was required
to strike his adversary's, or more probably to fix his own in the
centre of a ring painted on the wood ; and his success depended
on being able to ring his weapon most frequently, or approach
most closely to the centre.^
No. 336.
Conjurers, or thimble- ri
From UostUini.
Conjuring appears also to have been known to them, at least
the game of cups, in which a ball was put, while the opposite
party guessed under which of four it was concealed.^
2 I
No. 337. Dwarfs, and deformed persons in the service of the Egj'ptian grandees.
Tlie stone is broken in that part where the hands should be. Beni-Hassan.
The Egyptian grandees frequently admitted dwarfs and de-
formed persons into their household, originally, perhaps, from a
1 Called in the inscription abt, 'horn.' of one another,' but it is doubtfiil how it
2 The inscription reads dr en dr, ' atop was played. — S. B.
Chap. VII.J
DWARFS. — WRESTLmG.
71
humane motive, or from some superstitious regard for men who
bore the external character of one of their principal gods, Pthah-
Socharis-Osiris, the misshapen deity of Memphis ; ^ but, whatever
^.! T'f Jii?cription over No. 1 reads na- hy no means uncommon in Africa, and
man, dwart or 'pigmy, and these appear figure extensively on the wall-paintings
72
THE ANCIENT EGYPTIANS.
[Chap. YII.
may have given rise to the custom, it is a singular fact that,
already as earl}- as the age of Usertesen, more than 3500 years
ago, the same fancy of attaching these persons to their suite
existed among the Egyptians as at Rome, and even in modern
Europe till a late period.
The games of the lower orders, and of those who sought to
invigorate the body by active exercise, consisted of feats of
agility and strength; wrestling was a favorite amusement;
and the paintings of the grottoes at Beni-Hassan present all the
varied attitudes and modes of attack and defence of which it is
susceptible. And, in order to enable the spectator more readily
to perceive the position of the limbs of each combatant, the
artist has availed himself of a dark and light color, and even
ventured to introduce alternately a black and red figure. It is
not, however, necessary to give an instance of every position
No. 339.
Singlesticks.
From liOselUni.
indicated in those varied subjects; and a selection of the prin-
ci[)al groups will suffice to convey some idea of their mode of
representing the combatants, and of their general system of
attack and defence.
It is probal)le that, like the Greeks, they anointed the body
with oil, when prej^aring for these exercises, and they were
entirely naked, with the exception of a girdle, apparently of
leathern thongs.
The two combatants generally ai)proached each other, holding
their arms in an inclined position before the body; and each
endeavored to seize his adversary in the manner best suited to
his mode of attack. It was allowable to take hold of any part of
of Pompeii. Tlic iii-< riiitioii over No. 2 were the Roman moriones, ami mucli
reads t'en-b, ov niilier t'en rut, 'handy- caressed as pages by the ladies of \\\g\\
legged.' Tliese defovmitics and dwarfs rank. — S. B.
Chap. VII.]
ATHLETICS. — MOCK FIGHTS.
73
t^^e body, the head, neck, or legs : and the struggle was frequently
continued on the ground, after one or both had fallen ; a mode of
wrestling common also to the Greeks, by whom it was denomi-
nated (ipuxXionuktj. I do not find that they had the same sign
of acknowledging their defeat in this game as the Greeks, which
was by holding up a finger, in token of submission, and it was
probably done by the Egyptians with a word.
They also fought with the singlestick, the hand being
apparently protected by a basket, or guard projecting over the
knuckles ; and on the left arm they wore a straight piece of
wood, bound on with straps, serving as a shield to ward off their
adversary's blow. They do not, however, appear to have used
No. 340.
Raising weights.
From RoseUbii.
the cestus, or to have known the art of boxing ; ^ nor was throwing
the discus, or quoit, an Egyptian game.
Among their feats of strength or dexterity may be mentioned
that of lifting weights ; and bags full of sand were raised with
one hand from the ground, and carried with a straight arm over
the head, and held in that position.
Mock fights^ were also an amusement, particularly, I imag-
ine, among those of the military class, who were trained to the
fatigues of war by these manly recreations. One party attacked
a temporary fort, and brought up the battering-ram,'^ under
1 In one o^voup alone, at Beni-Hassan,
the combatants appear to strike each
Dtber.
- The Luchis Trojse of the Romans.
(Vhg. JEn. V. 560; Hor. Ep. i. 18, 61.)
3 The battering-ram (protected by the
covering- of the testudo, or ^i^iXiiui) is
supposed by Pliny to have been first
mentioned as the wooden horse of Troy;
and the co'ies, or ram, is said bv him to
74
THE ANCIENT EGYPTIANS.
[Chap. VII.
cover of the testuflo : another
defended the walls and endeavored
to repel the enemy; others, in
two parties, of equal number.s,
engaged in singlestick, or the
more usual neh<jot,^a.i)cAe wielded
with both hands ; and the pug-
nacious spirit of the people is
frequently alluded to in the
scenes portrayed by their artLsts.
The use of the neb6ot seems to
have been as common among
the ancient as among the mod-
ern Egyptians; and the quar-
rels of villages were often decided
or increased, as at present, by
this efficient weapon. Crews of
boats aie sometimes represented
attacking each other with the
earnestness of real strife. Some
are desperately wounded, and,
being felled b}' their more skilful
opponents, are thrown headlong
into the water ; and the truth ot
Herodotus's assertion, that the
heads of the Egyptians ''' were
harder than those of other people,
seems fully justified Vjy the
scenes described by their own
draughtsmen ; and that lhi.>
have been ori^rinallv called ' a hoi»e.*
(Lil). vji. .06.) In carfy tiims it was merelv
a pike, rpliravov, or terehra. The ^u.<:>irri fs
the (-ame a*- the testudo, and both may he
applied exclusively to that pail which cov-
ered the men. The te«tudo arietaria in-
cludes the covering; and the pike or ram.
(Vitruv. X. c. 19-22.)
1 It was not a short club, but a pole of con-
siderable len;.'th, longer than ilioie now
used in Etrvpt, which are about ci;^ht or
nine feet, fn mentioning the arms of the
Afri'^an enemies of f^^n,'pt, I omitted a re-
mark of Pliny, that 'the Africans were the
first [M;ople who used cluf)s, called j/ha-
lan/jan. 'luring their wars with the Egyp-
tians ' (Lib. vii. .00.)
■^ Ilero<lot. iii. 12.
Chap. VII. ]
MOCK FIGHTS.
75
peculiarity has been inherited by their successors is abundantly
proved by modern experience.
Many singular encounters with sticks are mentioned by
ancient authors ; among which may be noticed that described
by Herodotus, at Papremis, the city of Mars.^ When the vota-
ries of the deity presented themselves at the gates of the temple,
their entrance was obstructed by an opposing party; and all
being armed with sticks, they commenced a rude combat, which
ended, not merely in the infliction of a few severe wounds, but
1 Herodot. ii. 63.
76
THE ANCIENT EGYPTIANS.
(CiiAi-. \1L
even, as the historian affirms, iu the death of many persons on
either side.^
In buffoonery they also took great pleasure, and in witnessing
the performances of those who danced in the streets to the sound
of a drum,^ decorated with whatever could add to the extrava-
gance and ridicule of their appearalice, as ribbons, long pendent
tassels, or fools' caps ; and, judging from a custom still common
in Egypt, it is probable that these jesters passed impromptu
remarks on the spectators, abounding either in the wit of satire
or the flattery of praise. For, besides |)rofessional dancers and
TY^M
No. 344.
A bull-fight.
Thebes.
musicians, who were hired at entertainments, many ambulant
bands went from village to village to amuse the lower orders,
gaining a livelihood by their occupation ; and all the tricks and
o'estures were resorted to on those occasions which the ingenuity
of a sprightly people could suggest, to excite the generosity of
the bystanders and contribute to their amusement.
Bull-fights were also among their sports, and men api)ear
occasionally to have courted the approbation of their friends,
and displayed their courage and dexterity, in attacking a l)ull
single-handed, and bafHing his attacks.^
1 Thoiijrh, he adds, the Egyptians as-
sured liini the contrary. The modern
Egyptians used to liave the same kind of
fatal encounters. (' Egypt and Thehes,' p.
237, note ^.) - Woodcut No. 226.
3 Woodcut No. 342. TIic inscription iu
woodcut No. 342 reads over the i)iill to
tlie right hu us)(_ qa, ' he strii^cs the
broail ImiII,' or 'the collar," us-^^ * of the
hull,' referring to the action of the man
who strikes hack the hull with a stick.
That over tlie other hull reads meri, the
'loviiiii',' or 'desirous,' or impetuous-of-
fightiug hull; and the same epigrapii is
ajiplicd to the hull in woodcut No. 344,
wiicre the inscription reads sef\^ meri, 're-
straining,' or drawing l>ack, 'the desirous'
or ' impetuous bull. — S. li.
Chap. VIL]
BULL-FIGHTS.
77
It does not, however, appear that the Eoyptiaiis condemned
culprits, or captives taken in war, to combat with wild beasts, for
the amusement of an unfeeling assembly, as in ancient Rome ;
nor did they compel them to fight as gladiators, to gratify a
depraved taste, which delighted in exhibitions revolting to
humanity ; and, though we may feel disposed to blame them for
compelling prisoners of war to labor at public works, it must
be recollected that the usages of society, in those early ages,
tolerated a custom which modern civilization has abandoned ;
and it is evident that neither the refined Greeks nor Romans can
vie with the Egyptians in their manner of treating slaves : a
remarkable proof of which is evinced in the behavior of Potiphar
towards Joseph ; for in few countries, even at the present day,
would the crime of which he was supposed guilty have been
visited with more lenient punishment.
Bull-fights appear sometimes to have been encouraged by the
higher classes, and to have been held in the dromos, or avenue,
leading to their large temples ; as Strabo describes at Memphis,^
before the temple of Vulcan ; and prizes were awarded to the
owner of the victorious combatant. Great care, he adds, was
taken in their mode of training the animals for this purpose,
as much as is usually bestowed on horses ; and from their being
customary in the metropolis of Lower Egypt, we may conclude
that bull-fights were not a Greek or Roman introduction, but of
early Egyptian date, particularly since we se« them noticed, at
the most remote period, at Thebes and Beni-Hassan.^
1 Strabo, lib. xvii.
2 The inscription of woodcut No. 345
reads over the bull to the ri^^ilit, apt qau
an an ^mini ne^^t, ' The trial of the
bulls by the keeper Chnumnekht,' who
is represented backino- the bull on the
right. The inscription over the bull on
the left reads, ha su, apparently 'impelling
him.' — S. B.
'4M^
Nx J— »
^'^yy^
No. 345.
Bnll-light.
Be 1 1 1- Hassan.
Vignette G.— The ijalace-ifiiiplt/ <ii kauicscs ih- i .i , ,i , --.■nei-ally called the Meiiuioiiiuin
at Thebes, during the iuiuuhitiou.
CHAPTER VIII.
The Chase — Animals — Dogs — Fowlers — Fishermen — Hipiiopotamus — Crocodile —
The Teut_vrites.
All classes of the Egyptians delighted in the sports of the field,
and the peasants deemed it a duty as well as an amusement to
hunt and destroy the hyena, and those animals which were
enemies of the fields or flocks, and they shot them with the bow,
caught them in traps, or by whatever means their dexterity and
ingenuity could suggest : for though the hyena is a carnivorous
No. 346.
Hyena caught in a trap.
Thebes.
animal, it is not less hostile to the crops than to the flocks, when
pressed with hunger,^ and the ravages they are known to commit
in the fields among the Indian corn and other produce make the
1 Already noticed in ' Egypt and Thebes,' p. 243, note.
78
Chap. VIII. ] MODE OF HUXTIXG. 79
peasants of modern Egypt as anxious as their predecessors to
destroy them whenever they have an opportunity, or the courage
to attack them.^
Plato 2 reckons the huntsmen as one of the castes of the
Egyptians ; and tliough, as I have already observed, persons who
followed this occupation may have constituted a particular body,
or a minor subdivision of one of the castes, we are not to su})-
pose that the sports of the field were confined to those who
gained their livelihood by the chase ; or that the wealthy classes
of Egyptians were averse to an amusement so generally welcomed
in all countries. Indeed, the sculptures of Thebes, Beni-Hassan,
and other places assure us that they took particular delight iu
chasing the wild animals, kept in their preserves for this purpose,
and even in the more laborious task of following them in the
extensive tracts of the wide desert, which stretch to the east and
west of the valley of the Nile. On these occasions they were
attended by several huntsmen, whom they kept in their service
to attend upon the hounds, to direct the hunt, to assist in catch-
ing tlie larger animals with a noose, to carry darts and hunting
poles,^ to arrange the nets,* and, in short, to manage all matters
connected with the chase.
When the chasseur was a person of consequence, numerous
attendants accompanied him, not merely in the capacity of
beaters, to rouse and turn the game, or to carry it when killed,
but for various purposes connected with his immediate wants or
comforts while in the field: some brought with them a fresh
supply of arrows, a spare bow, or other requisites for remedying
accidents; and some carried a stock of provisions for his use.
These were borne upon the usual yoke across the shoulders, and
consisted of a skin of water, and jars placed in wicker baskets,
probably containing bread, meats, or other provisions. The skins
used for carrying water were precisely the same as those of the
present day, being of a goat or a gazelle, stripped from the body
by a longitudinal opening at the throat ; the legs serving as
handles, to which ropes for slinging them were attached; and
1 The hyena was not particularly an point, of moderate length, and used as a
object of the chase, for, as shown before, defensive weapon against the attack of a
at the time of the -ith Dynasty they were wild beast, being held in a slanting direc-
tamed and even eaten. — S. B. * tion to receive it. (J. Pollux, v. 4.)
- Plato in Timiso, near the beginning. •* Virg. iEn. iv. 131, and Hor. Ep., i.
3 The Roman venahida were of a thick- 6, 58. This person was called by the
ness of a spear, armed with a sharp iron Greeks, iSucruaywydf. (J. Pollux, v. 4.)
go THE AX(^IENT EGYPTIANS. [CiiAi-. VIII.
a soft pendent tube of leather sewed to the throat, in the place
of the head, formed the mouth of the water-skin, which was
secured by a thong fastened round it.^
Sometimes a space of ground, of considerable extent, was
enclosed with nets, into which the animals were driven by
beaters ; and as this is frequently shown by the sculptures to
have been in a hilly country, it is evident that the scenes of
those amusements were in the desert, where they probably
extended nets across the narrow valleys, or torrent-beds which
lie between the rocky hills, difficult of ascent to animals closely
pressed by dogs. This is indeed the onl}^ way in which a person
mounted on horseback ^ or in a chariot could follow, or get
within reach of them with the bow; and that some animals, par-
ticularly antelopes, when closely pressed, fear to take a steep
ascent is a fact well known to the Arabs ; and I have myself,
when following them with dromedaries in the same valleys,
observed that gazelles preferred doubling, and swiftly passing
between their pursuers, to the risk of slowly ascending the
eminence to which they had been driven.
The spots thus enclosed were usually in the vicinity of the
water-brooks,^ to which they were in the habit of repairing in
the morning and evening ; and having awaited the time when
they went to drink, and ascertained it by their recent tracks on
the accustomed path,* the hunters disposed the nets, occupied
proper positions for observing them unseen,^ and gradually
closed in upon them. Such are the scenes partially portrayed
in the Egyptian paintings, where long nets are represented sur-
rounding the space, wherein the chasseur and his attendants
pursue the game, either on foot or mounted in a chariot ; and
the presence of hyenas, jackals, and various wild beasts uncon-
nected with the sport, is intended*' to show that they have been
1 These skins have been ah-eadv men- Egj-ptian GiOTA. "»^^ the Arabic LJ
tioned and were called «>'(". Their principal ,.,,,,• i ,, *
use was for water, which was carried in which I believe to be the oryx.
them across the desert. -S. IJ. , ' r^'J' \°"i^ f"J"»''" with the Arabs in
2 As in Vii-il, .En. iv. l.")! ; but the tl'e desert, and my treqiient visits to the
E-yptians are never represents as hunt- sprin-s lor the same purpose, h.ave ex-
in^ either in chariots or mounted on plained to me the methods adopted by the
horseback; tiic hunter alwavs went on Egvittian chasseurs.
foot, at all events at the earliest period ' The person whose business it was to
when hunting scenes were represented. watch the nets was called by the Greeks
S R /.lVdTTT)]i, 0 Til lIXTittTOVTa aiToaKOTtovixfvoi, (O •
3" As the hart panteth after the water ^^j.'"/'' T; *•,) u e -c. i i 4^ * ivr i-
brooks." (Ps. xlii. i.) The Hebrew name « .1" » ^^ tomb of Ptahhetp at Memphis.
,_^ ..,.,,, , published bv Ducmichen, 'Itesultate, lli.
IS :^K All, evidently the same as the |^ ^^(39^ r^.-j. ^,;jj^ j^ ^^^^ Q,jg of these
Chap. VIIL] IIU^^TING.— NETS AND DRESS. 81
accidentally enclosed within the line of nets, which, from em-
bracing an extensive tract, necessaiily included witliin its
range tlie resort of these, as well as of the antelopes and other
animals of which they were in quest.
The same custom of surrounding a spot which they intended
to beat seems to have been adopted by the Romans ; and Virgil ^
re})resents ^Enea: and Dido repairing to a wood at break of day,
after the attendants had surrounded it with a temporary fence
to enclose the game. This is further confirmed l)y the descrip-
tion given by Julius Pollux of the various contrivances em-
ployed in hunting ; and he makes an evident distinction
between the nets for enclosing a large space, and those for
stopping gaps or openings and other purposes.
The long net, called cUkti/s, was furnished with several ropes,
and was supported on forked poles, varying in length, to corre-
spond with the inequalities of the ground over which it extended,
and this was so contrived as to enclose any space by crossing
liills, valleys, or streams, and encircling Avoods, or whatever
might present itself; a description fully applicable to those ex-
hibited in the Egyptian paintings.^ Smaller nets, called enhodia,
for stopping gaps, are also described by the same author ; and
a circular snare, |j»0(/a//ra, set round with wooden and iron nails,
and attached by a rope to a log of Avood, Avhich was used for
catchi^.ig deer, so nearly resembles one still made b}^ the Arabs,
and supposed to be an old Egyptian invention,^ that we may
conclude it was common to several ancient people.
In many instances the dresses of the attendants and hunts-
men were, as Julius Pollux recommends, ' not white, nor of a
brilliant hue, lest they should be seen at a distance by the
animals,' but of a suppressed color, and reaching only a short
way doAvn the thigh ; '^ being shorter even than those he men-
tions, which extended to the knee ; and the horses of the
chariots were divested of the feathers and slioAvy ornaments
used on other occasions.
spots, and among'st the animals represented ditlerent kinds of hounds, held hy leashes
are lions and wild dog's. Many of the round the neck till the moment of settin;^
spots are mountainous. them on the animal ; nor is any example
1 Viri,^ ^-En. iv. 117. known of conducting'- the chase in chariots ;
2 J.-Polluv, Onom. v. 4. at the earlier perioil the hunters always
3 Although nets are dften represented went on foot. — S. 15.
for fishing and fowling, few if any repre- ■* Woodcut No. 347. It was customnry
sentations of them are seen for taking with the Egyjitians, on ordinary occasions,
animals of the chase, which were generally to wear a kilt reaching to the knee.
shot with arrows, and hrought down l)y
82
THE ANCIENT EGYPTIANS.
[Chap. VIII.
Besides the portions of the open desert and the valleys above
alluded to, which were enclosed by the Egyptians during their
hunting excursions, the parks and preserves on their own domains
in the valley of the Nile, though of comparatively limited dimen-
sions, offered ample space and opportunity for indulging in the
amusement of the chase ; and there, as in the tlieriotrophia of
the Romans, a quantity of game was kept, among which may
be enumerated the wild goat, oryx, and gazelle. They had
also fish-ponds, and spacious vivaria^ set apart for keeping geese
and other wild fowl, which they fattened for the table.
It was the duty of the huntsmen, or the gamekeepers they
employed, to superintend the preserves ; and, at proper periods
of the year, when the yoinig animals could be obtained, they
souo-ht them, and added to the stock, which continued also to
Xo. 347.
Bringiug young animals to stock the preserves. Tomb near the Pyramids,
increase, independent of those occasional additions, through the
care taken in encouraging their propagation, by a judicious
regard to their habits. And this is confirmed by the numerous
flocks of gazelles and other wild animals represented in the
tombs among the possessions of the deceased, of which the
scribes are seen writing an account, at the command of the
steward, who waits to present it, with an annual census of his
property, to the o.wner of the estate.
Being fed within pastures enclosed with fences, they were not
marked in any jiarticular way, like the cattle, which, being let
loose in open meadows and frequently allowed to mix with the
herds of the neighbors, required some distinguishing sign by
which they might be recognized ; and were, therefore, branded
on the shoulder with a hot iron, probably engraved with the
owner's name. This is distinctly shown in the paintings of
Chap. YIII.l
THE CHASE.
83
<^%^
1 Whence in Exoilus xxiii. 29 : 'I will
not drive them out from before thee in
one year, lest the land become desolate,
and the beasts of the field multiply atjaiust
thee.' [The sculptures of Nimroud and
Kouyuujik are full of the hunts of Assur-
nazirpal, Sennacherib, and Assurbanipal.
(Layard, ' Nineveh and Babylon,' 8vo.
Lend. 1853.) Besides the ordinary chase,
tlie Assyrians had battues of lions, which
were brought in ca^es and let loose to be
killed. The Egyptian monarchs were de-
voted to the chase. Antefaa, of the lltli
Dynasty, had packs of hounds. Thothmes
III. chased elephants in Xinii, or Nineveh.
Amenophis III. has recorded on a scara-
"S
Thebes, where the cattle are represented lying on the ground
with their feet tied, while one person heats an iron on the fire,
and another applies it to the
shoulder of the prostrate animal.
In primitive ages the chase
was not an amusement, but a
necessary occupation among those
people who did not follow agri-
cultural pursuits or lead a pas-
toral life, and who depended for
their subsistence upon the sports
of the field ; and in some instances
the shepherd was obliged to hunt
and destroy the wild beasts, for
the security of his flocks and
herds, and sometimes even for
his own safety.^ In after-times,
when population increased, and
each community began to adopt
the habits of civilized life, the
injuries apprehended from them
decreased ; and the fear of man
having compelled them to remove
their haunts to a greater distance,
their pursuit was no longer re-
quired : and those who hunted
followed the occupation as an
amusement, to supply the table,
or in the employ of other persons,
as among the Egyptians, Baby-
lonians, Persians, and Medes.
baeus that he killed 102 lions in 10 years of
his reign; and Thothmes IV. has recorded
his dream and hunts in the neighborhood
of the Great Sphinx. (Pierret, ' Diet.
d'Arche'ologie,' p. 125.) — S, B.J
84
THE ANCIENT EGYPTIANS.
[C'lIAi-. Vlll.
In the East, indeed, it was always looked upon as a manly-
exercise, requiring courage and dexterity, and tending to invigo-
rate the body and instil into the mind a taste for active pur-
suits : it was held in such repute, that the founders of empires
were represented* in the character of renowned hunters. The
,?^5S!4~Si
tt-^ -5
cla
Babylonians were so fond of the chase, that the walls of their
rooms presented a rejjetition of subjects connected with it ; ^ and
they even ornamented their dresses and the furniture of their
houses with the animals they hunted.^ The Medes and Persians
' Amniian. Marcell. lib. xxvi. c. 6.
- Allien, lilt. \ii. 8.
Chap. VIII.] THE CHASE. 85
were equally noted for their love of field sports ; and, like the
Egyptians, they had spacious preserves ^ where the game was
enclosed ; the grounds of the royal palaces containing antelopes
and other animals, pheasants, peacocks, and abundance of birds,
as well as lions, tigers, and wild boars.'-^
The Egyptians frequently coursed with dogs in the open
plains, the chasseur following in his chariot, and the huntsmen
on foot. Sometimes he only drove to cover in his car, and,
having alighted, shared in the toil of searching for the game,
his attendants keeping the dogs in slips, ready to start them as
soon as it appeared. The more usual custom, when the dogs
threw off in a level plain of great extent, was for him to remain
in his chariot, and, urging his horses to their full speed, en-
deavor to turn or intercept them as they doubled, discharging
a well-directed arrow whenever they came within its range.
The dogs were taken to the ground by persons expressly
employed for that purpose and for all the duties connected
with the kennel, the Hvt'uy(j)yoi^ of the Greeks, and were either
started one by one or in pairs, in the narrow valleys or open
plains : and when coursing on foot, the chasseur and his at-
tendant huntsmen, acquainted with the direction and sinuosities
of the torrent beds, shortened the road, as they followed across
the intervening hills, and sought a favorable opportunity for
using the bow ; or marked with a watchful eye the progress of
the course in the level space before them.* For not only was
the chasseur provided with a bow, but many of those also who
accompanied him; and the number of head brought home was
naturally looked upon as the criterion of a good day's sport.
Having with eager haste pursued on foot, and arrived at the
spot where the dogs had caught their prey, the huntsman, if alone,
took up the game, tied its legs together, and hanging it over his
shoulders, once more led by his hand the coupled dogs, precisely
in the same manner as the Arabs are wont to do at the present
day : this, hov/ever, was generally the office of persons who fol-
lowed expressly for the purj^ose, carrying cages and baskets on
the usual wooden yoke, and who took charge of the game as soon
as it was caught ; the number of these substitutes for our game-
cart depending of course on the proposed range of the chase, and
1 Xenoph. Cyr. lib. i. : iv -naciahiiaoii. 3 j. PoUux, iv. .5.
Dio. Chvvsost. in Orat. 3. 4 ^s the Arabs of the present clay, in
- Curtins, lib. vii. and viii. Xenoph. the same districts.
Cyrop. lib. i.
86
THE ANCIENT EGYPTIANS.
[Chap. VIU.
the abundance the}' expected to find. Sometimes an ibex,^ (Jiyx^
or wild ox, being closely pressed by the hounds, and driven to an
No. 350. The huntsman carrying home the hobbled game, with his coupled dogs. Thebes.
eminence of difficult ascent, faced round and kept them at bay
with its formidable horns ; ^ and the spear of the huntsman, as
he came up, was required to decide the success of the chase.
No. 3.51.
iSriiigiiig holne the game; a gazelle, purcuiniies, and a liare. lieni-Ifassan.
It frequently happened, when the chasseur had many attend-
ants, and the district to be hunted was extensive, that they
1 The wild goat of tlie desert, the Nile and Red Sea.
heddaa or tdytal of the Arabs, which are - I have occnsionally witnessed in-
■till common in the desert between the stances of this in the desert.
Chap. VIII. ]
THE NOOSE.
87
divided into parties, each taking one or more dogs, and starting
them on whatever animal broke cover ; sometimes they went with-
out hounds, merely having a small dog for searching the bushes,
or lay in wait for the larger and more formidable animals, and
attacked them with the lance.
The noose was also employed to catch the wild ox, the ante-
No. 352.
Catching a gazelle with the noose.
Beni-Hassan.
lope, and other animals ; and as they are always represented on
foot, when throwing it. we may suppose they lay in ambush for
this purpose, and that it was principally adopted when they
wished to secure them alive ; since we find they frequently chased
the same animals with dogs, and with the bow. The noose was
very similar to the lasso of South America, but it does not appear
Xo. J53.
Catching a wild ox with the noose or lasso.
litni-Hassan.
that the Egyptians had the custom of riding on horseback when
they used it ; and from the introduction of a bush immediately
behind the man who has thrown it, we may suppose the artist
intended to convey the notion of his previous concealment.
Besides the bow, the hounds, and the noose, they hunted
with lions, which were trained expressly for the chase, like the
88
THE ANCIENT EGYPTIANS.
I Chap. VIII.
cheetah or hunting leopard of India : but there is no appearance
of the leopard 1 or the panther having been employed for this
purpose, and the lion was always the animal they preferred. It
was frequently brought up in a tame state,^ and many Egyptian
monarchs are said to have been accompanied in battle by a
favorite lion, — as. we learn from the sculptures of Thebes and
other places, and from the authority of Diodorus.'^
The bow used for the chase was very similar to that employed
1 Bajazet I. (Bj'azeed) had 12,000 offi-
cers and servants of the chase. Besides
hounds of various hreeds, he had leopards,
whose collai's were set with jewels. (Gib-
bon, xi.)
2 I have seen two or three tame lions in
Cairo. Aniniuls are more easily tamed in
those climates than in Europe.
3 Diod. i. 48. And the sculptures of
Dayr, Medeenet Ilaboo, Kalabshi, &c.
Chap. VIIL]
BOW USED FOR THE CHASE.
89
in war ; the arrows were frequently the same, with metal heads,
Init some were ti^jped with stone, which are represented in the
hunting scenes of Beni-Hassan, and in many of those at Thebes.
The mode of drawing the bow was also the same, though, as I
have already observed, the chasseurs sometimes pulled the
^ fe;:
string only to the breast, instead of the more perfect and more
usual method of raising it, and bringing the arrow to the ear ;
and occasionally one or more spare arrows w^ere held in the
hand,i to give greater facility in discharging them with rapidity
on the swift antelopes and wild oxen.
1 Woodcut No. 355 ; and Xo. 35, in vol. i.
90 THE AMCIEXT EGYPTIANS. [Chap. VIII.
The animals they chie% luinted were the gazelle, wild goat
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1 Probably the same as the Cervus harharus.
Chap. VIII.] ANIMALS OF THE CHASE. 91
porcupine ; ^ the meat of all of which was highly esteemed aiuoiio-
tlie delicacies of the table. Others, as the fox, jackal, wolf, hyena,
and leopard, were chased as an amusement for the sake of their
skins, or as enemies of the farm-yard ; and the ostrich held out
a great temptation to the hunter from the value of its plumes.
These were in great request among the Egyptians for ornamental
purposes; a religious veneration of tliem, as the symbol of truth,
enhanced their value ; and the members of the court on grand
occasions failed not to deck themselves with the feathers of the
ostrich. The labor endured during the chase of this swift-
footed bird was amply repaid ; even the eggs were required for
some ornamental or religious use, and these, with the plumes,
formed part of the tribute imposed by the Egyptians on the con-
quered countries where it abounded. The purposes to which the
eggs were applied are unknown ; but we may infer, from a reli-
•gious prejudice in their favor among the Christians of Egypt,
that some superstition was connected with them, and that they
were suspended in the temples of the ancient Egyptians, as they
still are in the churches of the Copts.^
The subjects of the chase in the sculptures are frequently rep-
resented with great spirit. The character of the animals is main-
tained with wonderful truth, and, though time and the hand of
man have done much to injure them, sufficient remains to evince
the skill of the Egyptian draughtsmen. Distance and locality
are not so well defined, and the archer, like all Egyptian figures,
offends against every rule of drawing and perspective ; but the
action of the dogs and of the fiying antelopes is spirited, and
shows how successfully the effect was given by simple outline.
It is singular that the wild boar is never represented among
the animals of Egypt,^ since it is a native of the country, and
is even eaten at the present day, in spite of the religious preju-
dices of the Moslems, by many of the inhabitants of the districts
where it lives: — nor can I suggest any reason for this onnssion,
except from its not frequenting those parts where the scenes of
1 I have not found this animal in Ejrypt. drinkinf; the oil, as we were assured b}' the
It is eaten in Italy, and sold in the markets monks of Dayr Antonios.
of Rome and other places. 3 xhe boar is mentioned in the tale of
2 They consider them the emblems of ^|ie Doomed Prince ('Records of the Past,'
watchfulness. Sometimes they use them li. p. 153 and foil.), but the scene is laid
with a different vicAV : the rope of their in Naharaina, or Mesopotamia. The wild
lamps is passed through an ostrich-eg'^'' shell sow and pij;'s are also seen in the 1)as-
in order to prevent rats coming down and reliefs of the palace of Kouyunjik, and
were evidently hunted. ■ — S. B.
92
THE ANCIENT EGYPTIANS.
[Chap. VIII.
the chase are laid, being confined to the low marshy spots about
the north of the Delta, and the banks of the Lake Moeris. In
No. 357.
A chase in the desert of the Thebai
To the left of A was the chasseur in liis chariot, shooting with the \h>\v, how defaced.
Fijrs. I, 9, 10, 15, 1«, Gazelles. 2,11. Hares. 3. Feniah? hyena, with its young. 4,13. Foxes.
5. Porcupine. 6. Hyena arrived at the top of a hill and looking towards the chasseur.
7. The ibex. 8, 14. Hounds. 12. Ostriches (defaced). IG. The ory.x. 19. Wild oxen.
the Thebaid it was unknown ; the sculptures or paintings of
Diospolis relate principally to the vicinity of Upper Egy[)t, and
Chap. VIII.]
IMAGINARY ANIMALS.
93
the monuments of the Delta and the h)\ver country are too few to
enable us to say if it was omitted there. Nor is the wild ass met
with in the paintings, either of Upper or Lower Egypt, though
it is common in the deserts of the Thebai'd.
Many other animals are introduced in the sculptures, besides
those already noticed, some of which are purely the offspring of
disordered imagination : and the winged quadrupeds, sphinxes,
5, suha.
No. 358. Monsters in the paintings of Beni-Hassan and Thebes.
or lions, with the head of a hawk or of a snake, and some others
equally fanciful and unnatural, can only be compared to the
creations of heraldry,^ or serve as companions to the monsters of
Pliny.'-^
The Egyptian sphinx was usually an emblematic figure,
representative of the king, and may be considered, when with the
1 An Austrian nobleman asked an En<;-
lish ambassador at Vienna, whose arms
presented a griffin and other monsters,
' In what forest they were met with ? "
'In the same,' said the ambassador,
' where you find eagles with two
heads."
^ Plin. viii. 21.
94 THE ANCIENT EGYPTIANS. [Chap. VUI.
head of a man and tlie body of a lion, as the union of intellect
aud physical force: it is therefore scarcel}" necessary to observe
that they are never female, as those of the Greeks. Besides the
ordinary sphinx, compounded of a lit)n and a man, and denom-
inated androsphinx, were the criospliinx, Avith the head ol a
ram, and the hieracosj)hinx, with the hawk's head and lion's body.
— all which are representatives of the k'mg; : 1)nt the asp-headed
and tlic hawk-headed sjjhinx with wings do not appear to have
been adopted as the same symbol.
Those of the above-mentioned animals which are still found in
Egypt, either in the Valley of the Nile, or in the desert, are the
gazelle,^ ibex, kehsh, fox, jackal, wolf, and hyaena.
The oryx ^ is a native of Ethiopia, as is the spotted hyaena ^
or marafeen ; which last is once represented in the Egyptian
sculptures. The oryx has long annulated horns, tapering to a
sharp point, and nearly straight, with a slight curve or inclination
kwards. It frequently occurs in the sculptures, being among
the animals tamed by the Egyptians, and kept in great numbers
in the preserves of their villas.
The be'isa'^ is very like the oryx, except in the black marks
upon its face, and a few other points; and the addax^ another
antelope, inhabiting Upper Ethiopia, differs principally from the
oryx in its horns, which have a waving or spiral- form : but these
do not appear in the sculptures, unless the Egy[)tian artists, by
an imperfect representation of them, and an inattention to their
distinguishing peculiarities, have confounded them '° with the
oryx, or with the wild ox.
This last, which is also of the genus antilope,'' the defassa of
modern zoologists, though not a native of Egypt, is found in the
African desert, and, I believe, in Eastern Ethiopia; it is of a
reddish sandy and gray color, with a black tuft terminating its
tail, and stands about four feet high at tlie slioidder. Though
made too much to resemble a common ox in some of the paintings,
it is sufficiently evident that the Egyptians had m view the
Jefuiisa, in their representations of this animal : ^ and the Theban
sculptors, who had a better opi)ortunity of becoming acquainted
' Woodcut No. 35(5, /?(7. G, and No. 357, have it, chama : 'effi^ie lupi, pardonirt]
fif/s. 1, 9, 10, 15, IS. ■ " maculis" (lih. viii. 19).
- The Antilope leitcoryx : woodcut No. ■* Aniilope heUa.
3^i(5,_fii/. 2. and No. Zh'^fuj. 16. ^ Antilope addax.
3 The Canof) crocutus, which appears to •^ /Vf/. 7 of woodcut No. 856 appears to
he the cluiua of Phuv, (;r, as some editions be tlie addax. ' Antilope defassa
s Woodcut No 'ir^i.fi,/. 19.
CiiAP. VIII. 1 WILD ANIMALS. 95
with it, have succeeded in giving its character far more satis-
factorily than the painters of Beni-Hassan.^
The stag with branching horns,^ figured at Beni-Hassan, is
also unknown in the Valley of the Nile ; but I have been assured
that it is still seen in the vicinity of the Natron Lakes, though it
is not a native of the desert between the river and the Red Sea.
The ihex^^ which is common in the Eastern desert as far north
a,s the range of the Qualalla and Gebel Aboo-Durrag, or latitude
29° 30', is very similar to the bouquetin of the Alps, and is called
in Arabic heddan or tdytal. The former appellation is exclusively
applied to the male, which is readily distinguished by a beard and
large knotted horns curving backwards over its body, the female'
having short erect horns, scarcely larger than those of the gazelle,
and being of a much smaller and lighter structure.
The kebsh^ or wild sheep, is found in the Eastern desert,
principally in the ranges of primitive mountains, which, com-
mencing about latitude 28° 40', at the back of the limestone hills
of the Valley of the Nile, extend thence into Ethiopia and
Abyssinia. The female kebsh is between two and three feet high
at the shoulder, and its total length from the tail to the end of
the nose is a little more than four feet : but the male is larger,
and is provided with stronger horns, which are about five inches
in diameter at the roots, and are curved down towards the neck.
The whole body is covered with hair, like many of the Ethiopian
sheep, and the throat and thighs of the fore-legs are furnished
with a long pendant mane ; a peculiarity not omitted in the
sculptures, and which suffices to prove the identity of the kehsh^'^
wherever its figure is represented.
The porcupine is not a native of Egypt ; nor is the leopard
met with on this side of Upper Ethiopia. Bears are altogether
unknown, and if they occur twice in the paintings of the Theban
tombs, the manner in which they are introduced sufficiently
proves them not to have been among the animals of Egypt, since
they are brought by foreigners, together with the productions of
their country which were deemed rare and curious to the
Egyptians. Herodotus is therefore in error respecting the bear'^
as well as the otter ;^ but the Greek name of this last is so
1 Wooflcut No. 35a,//7.s. 4 and 5. 'Waran of the river,' the lartje Lacerta
2 Woodcut No. 8of). 7?^. 9. niloticaf [He means that ichneumon
3 Woodcut No. 3r)fi,/^. 1. which is called bv Ammianus ' hvdrus
4 Woodcut No. ih&,fig. 10. ichncumonis genus'' (xxii. 14, p. 33'6). —
5 Herodot. ii. 67 : ' Bears beinjj rare.' G. W.]
6 Ibid. ii. 72. May he mean the
96 THE ANX'lENT EGYPTIANS. [Chap. VIII.
ambiguous that it may apply to any 'animal inhabiting the
water/ which is the signification of the word e)ihydris Qfv^qic'^,
With regard to the Egyptian wolf — which, he sa3-s,Ms small,
and 'scarcely larger than a fox' — his statement is fully borne
out by fact ; and Pliny's remark,^ that ' those of Egypt and
Africa are small and inactive,' is equally just. But it is still
more remarkable that in Egypt their habits differ, in one of tlip
principal characteristics of the species, from those of other
countries, being so little gregarious; for, though so often in
pursuit of them, I never met with more tlian two together, and
generally found them prowling singly over the plain.
M. Sonnini's conclusions respecting the existence of the wolf
in Egypt are hast}^ and erroneous : and he has perverted the
meaning of Herodotus, when he says that the sacred animal of
Lycopolis ' was not the wolf, for there are none in Egypt, l)ut the
jackal, which seems clearly shown by Herodotus, when he says
the wolves in that country are scarcely larger than foxes.' The
tombs in the mountain above Lycopolis, the modern E'Sioot,^
contain the mummies of wolves, many of which I have examined,
and ascertained to be of the sacred animals of the place ; the
ancient sculptures represent them as natives of the country in
the earliest times ; and the coins of the Lycopolite nome bear a
wolf on their reverse, with the word lyeoa^ signifying 'a wolf.'
It is therefore evident that M. Sunnini is in error as to their
not having been natives of Egypt in the time of Herodotus ; and
since we find them on both sides of the Nile, those now met with
there are shown to be indigenous in the country, and not derived
from any which may have accidentally strayed from the bin-ders
of Syria.
The Egyptian hare is a native of the Valley of the Nile as
well as the two deserts. It is remarkable for the length of its
ears, winch the Egyptians have not failed to indicate in their
sculptures ; but it is much smaller than those of Europe.
The intelligent Denon has made a just remark on the
comparative size of the animals common to Egyjjt and Europe,
that the former are always smaller than our own sjjecies; and
this is exemplified by none more strongly than the hai'e and wolf.
The tvabber^^ or hyrax, though a native of the eastern desert of
1 Ilerodot. ii. 67. others were wrong- in writin<i- this name
2 riinv, viii. 22. Aristot. Hist. An. viii. Osioot, in ' Ejrypt and Thebes,' p. 389.
28. ' •* Bv a sinj^ular inadvertency, this lias
3 I have shown tliat Aboolfeda and been called a gazelle, in M. teon Dela-
Chap. VIIL] LION. — ICHNEUMON. 97
Egypt, is not represented in the scnlptnres ; but this is pro])ably
owing to its habits, and to their hunting principally in the valleys
of the secondary mountains ; the wabber only venturing a short
distance from its burrow in the evening, and living in the
primitive ranges, where the sealeh^ or acacia grows. It was
probably the saphan'^ of the Bible, as Bruce has remarked, and
that enterprising traveller is perfectly correct in placing it among
ruminating animals.
In enumerating the wild beasts of the desert, it may not be
irrelevant to observe tliat the hyena and wolf are seldom met
with in unfrequented districts, or any great distance from the
Nile, where they would suffer from want of food, and are therefore
principally confined to the mountains lying at most a few miles
from the edge of the cultivated land. Once only I have met
with the wolf on the coast of the Red Sea ; and few even of the
watering-places of the interior of the desert are infested by it or
the hyena.
The lion is now unknown to the north of Upper Ethiopia:
there, however, it is common, as well as the leopard, the
aboomungdr? and other carnivorous beasts ; and the abundance
of sheep in those districts amply supplies them with food, and
has the happy tendency of rendering them less dangerous to
man. In ancient times, however, the lion inhabited the deserts
of Egypt,* and Athenseus mentions one killed by the Emperor
Hadrian, while hunting near Alexandria.^ They are even said,
in former times, to have been found in Syria'' and in Greece.
Among the animals confined to the Valley of the Nile and
its immediate vicinity may be mentioned the ichneumon,' which
lives principally in Lower Egypt and the Fyoom, and which,
from its enmity to serpents, was looked upon by the Eg^-ptians
with great respect. Its dexterity in attacking the snake is truly
surprising. It seizes the enemy at the back of the neck, as soon
as it perceives it rising to the attack, one firm bite sufficing to
horde's 'Petra.' ( H'^g the translation, pp. of spring-infr like a leopard, or rather like
106, 107 ) a dog, and attacking- cattle ; the latter
1 The acacia, or Mimosa seyal. was said to have a round head and shaggv
2 [Levit. xi. 5. It chewed the cud, neck.
whicli the ' coney,' or I'abbit, does not, and ■• See previous note about the tomb of
conev, therefore, is a wrong translation. Ptahhetp, p. 80.
— G'. W.] 5 Athen. lib. xv. c. 6.
3 The ahoomungdr is said to be in the 6 i Sam. xvii. 34; 2 Sam. xxiii. 20;
Egyptian deserts as well as the sheeh. I 1 Kings, xiii. 24.
have not been able to discover what these " In Arabic, ' nims,' or ' got Pharaoon,'
two animals really are : the former was Pharaoh's cat. It is the Viverra ichneu-
described to me bj' the Arabs, as having a 7non.
pointed uose, like a wolf, with the power
98 THE ANCIENT EGYPTIANS. [Cuai-. VIII.
destroy it ; and when wounded by the venomous fangs of its
op})onent, it is said by the Arabs to have recourse to some herb,
which checks the effect of the deadly poison.
Of the truth, however, of this commonly credited assertion, ^ I
can say nothing; an Arab assured me he had witnessed a fight
between a large venomous snake and an ichneumon, which last,
whenever it received a bite, ran to a small plant, of which it ate
a part, rubbing the wound against the leaves, and then returned
to renew the combat ; and in order to ascertain the realit}' of its
effect, he plucked up and removed the plant, and having waited
to see the wounded animal return in vain to seek it, he became
convinced, by its death, that the herb alone had previously saved
its life. The Arabs, however, frequently consult their imagination
more than their love of truth, and, like many authors of amusing
tales, they tell their stories till they believe them true.
The ichneumon^ is easily tamed, and is sometimes seen in the
houses of Cairo, where in its hostility to rats it performs all the
duties of a eat ; but, from its indiscriminate fondness for eggs,
poultry, and many other requisites for the kitchen, it is generally
reckoned troublesome, and I have often found reason to complain
of those 1 kept.
Eggs are its favorite food, and it is said to have been greatly
venerated by those Avho held the crocodile in abhorrence, in
consequence of its destroying the eggs of that hateful animal : ^
but it is now rarely met Avith in places where the crocodile
abounds; and we may conclude that at all periods its principal
recommendation was its hostility to serpents. It is frequently
seen in the })aintings, where its habits are distinctly alluded
to by the Egyptian artists, who represent it -in search of
eggs, among the bushes, and the usual resorts of the feathered
tribe.
The wild cat, the Fells chaus of Linn?eus, is common in the
vicinity of the Pyramids and Heliopolis, but it does not occur
among the pictured animals of ancient Egypt. Nor is the
jej'boa,'^ so frequently met with both in the upper and lower
country, represented in the sculptures.
The giraffe was not a native of Egypt, but of Ethio])ia, and
' They have the same notion in India. 3 Diotl. i. 35.
- It isol'ten inirochieed in thcsculiitm-es. * Dipus jaculus. It is eaten by the
Woodcut No. 3r)G,_;?9. 20; and in woodcut Arabs of Africa. Bruce, witli ;rrcat reason,
No. ,'565 it is represented carrying away a supposes it to be the mouse mentioned in
voung bird from the nest. Isaiah Ixvi. 17.
ClIAP. VIII.]
DOGS.
99
is only introduced in subjects which relate
where it is brought with apes, rare woods, and
ductions, as part of the tribute annually paid
The Egyptians had several breeds of dogs,
ffU" the chase, others admitted into the parlor,
companions of their walks , and some, as at
selected for their peculiar ugliness. All were
to that country,
other native pro-
to the Pharaohs,
some solely used
or selected as the
the present day,
looked upon with
No. 359.
Various kiuds of dogs, froui the sculptures.
veneration, and the death of a dog was not only lamented as a
misfortune, but was mourned by every member of the house in
which it occurred.
The most common kinds were a sort of fox dog and a hound ;
they had also a short-legged dog, not unlike our turnspit, whicli
was a great favorite in the house, especially, it appears, in the
100
THE ANCIENT EGYPTIANS.
[ClIAl'. VIII.
time of Usertesen ; and it is possible that, as in later days, the
choice of a monarch led the taste or fasliion of the time to fix
upon a particular breed. Of the fox dog, I have found several
mummies in U^^per Egypt, and it is reasonable to conclude that
this was the parent stock of the modern red wild dog of Egy})t,
which is so common at Cairo and other towns of the lower
country.^
Herds of cattle and flocks of sheep ^ and goats were numerous;
and pigs, though unclean^ and an abomination to the Egyptians,
No. 360.
Pigs ; rarely seen in the sculptures.
Fig. 1. Sows with young pigs. 2. Young pigs. 3. Boars.
Thebes.
a is a whip, knotted like some of our own. b, a gayd, or noose.
frequently formed part of the stock of the farm-yard, but they
are more rarely represented in the sculptures than other animals.
Their cattle were of different kinds, of which three principal dis-
' An account of the different kinds of
dogs represented in the sculptures is jjiven
in the ' Transactions of the Society of
Bihlical Archseolofry,' vol. iv. p. 172, and
foil. Those on the tomb of Antefaa
resemble a Dalmatian hound, a dojr half
wolf, like that found in Northern China,
a mastiff, and a house-dog: or pet. The
hound was called tasem ; the ordinary doj,"-,
vhar ; another kind was called ?/««', either
the wolf-dojis, or do^s so like wolves that
they were indistinguishable; another kind
of dog was the uau, or fuau. In the
hieratic papvri packs of 200 and 300 of
these dogs arc mentioned. A boar-hound
appears 'to be mentioned in the tale of tlic
' Doomed Prince.' — S. B.
- I have already observed, on the au-
thority of Diodorus, that sheep in Egypt
were twice shorn, and twice brought forth
himhs in the year; as at the present dav.
llomcr says those of Libya had lamiis
thrice in a" year (Od. A, 86).
3 Herodot. ii. 47.
CiiAP. VIII.] HORSES. —POULTRY. 101
tiiictiuns are most deserving of notice, the short, the long-
horned cattle, and the Indian or humped ox: and the last two,
though no longer natives of Egypt, are common to this day in
Abyssinia and Upper Ethiopia. ^
Horses"^ and asses were abundant in Egypt, and the latter
were employed as beasts of burden, for treading out corn, par-
ticularly in Lower Egypt, and for many other purposes. Like
those of the present day, it is probable that they were small,
active, and capable of bearing great fatigue ; and, considering
the trifling expense at wliieh these hardy animals were main-
tained, we are not surprised to find that they were kept in
great numbers in the agricultural districts, or that one individ-
ual had as many as seven hundred and sixty employed in dif-
ferent parts of his estate.
Egyptian horses were greatly esteemed ; they were even
exported to neighboring countries, and Solomon bought them
at a hundred and fifty shekels of silver,-'^ from the merchants
who traded with Egypt by the Syrian desert.
It is remarkable that the camel, though known to have been
used in and probably a native of Egypt as early at least as the
lime of Abraham (the Biljle distinctly stating it to have been
among the presents given by Pharaoh to the patriarch^), has
never yet been met with in the paintings or hieroglyphics.'^
We cannot however infer, from our finding no representation
or notice of it,'' that it was rare in any part of the country,
since the same would apply to poultry, which, it is scarcely
necessary to observe, was alwaj^s abundant in Egypt : for no
instance occurs in the sculptures of fowls or pigeons, except as
carriers in the coronation ceremonies among the stock of the
farm-yard, though geese are repeatedly introduced, and num-
bered in the presence of the stewards.""
The mode of rearing poultry, and the artificial process of
hatching tlie eggs of fowls and geese, I have already mentioned
1 A hornless variety was also known. — (Chabas. ' Voyajre cl'un Egyptian,' p. 220),
S. B. and its flesh "was eaten in Palestine, but
- Xot till after the 18th Dynasty. — it was not introduced into Egypt. — S. B.
S. B. 6 1 have a stone seal found in Xubia,
3 1 Kings X. 28, 29. on which two camels are rudely engraved,
■1 Gen. vii. 16. The name in Hebrew is but it is of uncertain date,
the same by which the animal is known in ' An account of the animals represented
Araljic, gemel, gemeliiii, ~";?;:. Vide also in the early tombs is given by Dr. Hart-
Exod. ix. 3. '" mann in Dueraichen's 'Eesultatc,' p. 28
5 It is, however, mentioned in the and foil. — S. B.
liieratie papyri by its name kaiiialu
102
THE AXCIENT EGYPTIANS.
IChap. VIIL
ill a former work,^ where I have shown the method adopted by
the Copts from their predecessors.^
Many birds which frequented tlie interior and skirts of the
' ' Egypt and Thebes,' pp. 245, 246.
- Diod. i. 74. Pliny, x. 54.
Chap. VIII. J
FOWLIXG.
103
desert, and were highly prized for the table, were caught in nets
and traps by the fowlers, as the partridge, gutta^^ bnstard,^ and
quail ;^ and water-fowl of different descriptions, which abounded
in the valley of the Nile, afforded endless diversion to the sports-
man, and jjrofit to those who gained a livelihood by their sale.
Fowling was a favorite amusement of all classes ; and the
fowlers and fishermen, as I have already observed, were sub-
divisions of one of the castes. They either caught the birds in
large clap-nets,^ or in traps ; and they sometimes shot them with
arrows, or felled them with a throw-stick, as they flew in the
thickets.
Xo. 362.
Bird-traps.
Beni- Hassan.
Fig. 1. Trap closed and the bird caught in it ; the network of it has been effaced, as also in
jif/. 3. The other traps are open.
The trap ^ was generally made of network, strained over a
frame. It consisted of two semicircular sides or flaps, of equal
sizes, one or both moving on the common bar or axis upon
which they rested. When the trap was set, the two flaps were
kept open by means of strings, probably of catgut, which, the
moment .the bait that stood in the centre of the bar was touched,
slipped aside, and allowed the two flaps to collapse, and thus
secured the bird.
' The Pterocles melanogaster,
'Egypt and Thebes,' p. 245.)
2 The Otis hebara.
{Vide 3 Herodot. ii. 77; Diod. i. 60; and the
sculptures.
■» Woodcut Xo. 361, part 2.
5 Woodcut No. 362.
104
THE ANCIENT EGYPTIANS.
[Chap. YIII.
Another kind, which was square, appears to have closed in
the same manner ; but its construction was different, the frame-
work running across the centre, and not, as in the others, round
the edges of the trap.
If their skill in making traps is not proved in those used by
the fowlers, it may at least be inferred from that in which the
robber was caught in the treasury of Rhampsinitus ; ^ since the
power of the spring, or the mechanism of the catch, was so great
that his brother was unable to open it or release him.
No. .363. A sportsman using the throw-stick. Thebes.
Figs. 2 and 3. His sister and daughter. 4. Decoy bird. 5, 5. Birds struck with the stick.
They do not seem to have used the bow very generally to
shoot birds, nor was the sling adopted, except by gardeners and
peasants to frighten them from the vineyards ^ and fields. The
use of the throw-stick ^ was very general, every amateur chasseur
' Vol. i. p. 82.
2 Woodcut No. 156, vol. i. p. 381.
3 The Irish frequently use it for tlio
same purpose.
Chap. VIII.] FOWLING. 105
priding himself on the dexterity he disjjlayed with this missile ;
and being made of heavy wood, flat, and offering little surface ^
to the air in the direction of its flight, the distance to which
an expert arm could throw it was considerable ; though they
always endeavored to approach the birds as near as possible,
under the cover of the bushes or reeds. It was from one foot
and a quarter to two feet in length, and about one inch and
a half in breadth, slightly curved at the upper end ; and
its general form may be inferred from one found at Thebes
by Burton,^ from those in the Berlin Museum, and from the
sculptures.
On their fowling excursions, the}" usually proceeded with a
party of friends and attendants, sometimes accompanied by the
members of their family, and even their young children, to the
jungles or thickets of the marsh-lands, or to the lakes of their
own grounds, formed by the waters of the overflowing Nile, at
the period of the inundation, when wild fowl was more abundant
than at any other season of the year ; and seated in punts made
of the papyrus,^ or rushes of various kinds, they passed without
disturbing the birds amidst the lofty reeds which grew in the
water, and masked their approach. This sort of boat was either
toAved, pushed by a pole, or propelled by paddles ; and a religious
prejudice induced the Egyptians to believe that persons who
used it were secure from the attacks of crocodiles : * a story which
can be more readily believed and explained, when we remember
that they principally used these boats in the lakes and inland
canals, where crocodiles were seldom seen.^
The attendants collected the game as it fell, and one of them
was always ready to present a fresh stick to the chasseur, as soon
as he had thrown. They frequen tly took with them a decoy bird,
which was posted in a convenient place : and in order more
' [Like the boomerang of Australia. — of the boatman and the fowler occurs : —
G. W.] 'The poulterer navigates to Athu ' — the
2 Now in the British Museum, No. 5463. marsh-lands of the Delta — that he may
3 Conf. Lucan, iv. 136. ' get his price ; he has gone beyond the
■4 Plat, de Isid. s. 18 : ' Isis . . . made power of his hands in going to kill jreese
use of a boat constructed of the reed and flamingoes.' ('Records of the Past,'
papyrus, in order to pass more easily viii. p. 153.) And again (Ibid. pp. 152,
through the fenny parts of the country, 153); 'The fowler of birds suifers very
whence, they say, the crocodile never much ; he does not see the birds should
touches any persons who go in this sort of Xuui' — the god of the waters — 'pass to
vessel.' the upper heaven, where he savs. Let the
5 In the hieratic papyru.s relating to the net refuse. Tlie ".i-od wills not to show his
praise of learning the following description forms ; vain are his plans.' — S. B.
106
THE ANXIENT EGYPTIANS.
[Chap. VIII.
effectually to prevent its quitting the post assigned to it, a female
was selected for the purpose, whose nest, containing eggs, was
brought Avith it and deposited in the boat. [They also had an
ingenious mode of carrying live birds, as will be seen by the an-
nexed woodcut. The beak was strapped
down to the neck, and the feet to the
body, so that the bird could neither
flutter nor escape. This appears only
to have been used for a single bird ; for
when they were numerous, if not killed
at once, they were put into square
cages. — S. B.]
A favorite cat sometimes attended
them on these occasions ; and from the
readiness with which it is represented
to have seized the game, the artist has
//iV I \/ ' 7/'\ V intended to show that those animals
vii l\V //I \\ acted as retrievers, or were trained to
catch the birds ; being let out of the
boat into the thickets which grew at the
watei''s edge. Though making every
allowance for the great skill attributed
to the Egyptians in taming and training animals, it is difficult
to persuade us that the cat could be induced, on any considera-
tion, to take the water in quest of a fallen bird.
That cats, was well as dogs, were looked upon with great
esteem by the Egyptians is evident from the care they took to
preserve and embalm them, and from the express statements of
ancient writers. Herodotus ^ mentions the concern they felt at
their loss, and the general mourning that ensued in a house, even
if they died a natural death ; every inmate being obliged to
shave his eyebrows, in token of sorrow, for the loss of a cat, and
the head and whole body for the death of a dog. When ill, they
watched and attended them with the greatest solicitude : and, if
any person purposely, or even involuntarily,^ killed one of these
revered animals, it was deemed a capital offence ; neither could all
the influence of the magistrates, nor even the dread of the Roman
name, prevent the people from sacrificing to their resentment an
incautious Roman who had killed a cat, though it was evident
that he had done it unintentionallv.
Mode of carrying a live bird.
No. 364.
1 Ilerodot. ii 66.
2 Died. i. 83
CiiAi>. VIIL]
CATS.
107
'So deeply rooted in their minds,' says Diodorus,^was the
superstitious regard for the sacred animals, and so strongly were
^- CI CO o t—
108
THE ANCIENT EGYPTIANS.
[Chap. VIll.
the passions of every one bent upon their honor, that, even at
this time, when Ptolemy had not yet been called a king by the
Romans, and the people were using every possible effort to
flatter the Italians who visited the country as strangers, and
studiously avoided anything which could excite disputes or lead
to war, on account of their dread of the consequences, they posi-
tively refused to restrain their anger, or to spare the offender.'
No. 36G.
Si)orlsiuaii using the throw-stick.
British Musewn.
Fig. 2 keeps the boat steady by holding the stalks of a lotus. 4. A cat seizing the game in
the thicket. 5. A decoy bird. 6. Water and fish.
Some remains of this prejudice in favor of the cat^ may still
be traced among the modern Egyptians, who even allow it to
eat from the same dish,^ and to be the constant companion of
their children ; though the reputed reason of their predilection
for this animal is its utility in watching and destroying scor-
pions, and other reptiles, which infest the houses.^
1 They arc much more tractable and
attached in Eg:ypt than in Europe. The
cat and dog are not there the emblems of
discord.
'- This is a general custom with the
Mosleins.
3 Cats arc occasionally represented
seated under the chairs of persons in sepul-
chral sconc~, and petted like monkeys and
dogs. The name of the cat wa^ man, and
it was specially sacred to Bast, or Hultastis,
the Egyptian Artemis, the beloved of Ptah,
and tlie mothei- of Ncferatuni. It is
strange that it was not known in (ireece
at an early period, considering the inti-
mate relations between that count rv and
Chap. VIII. ] FOWLING. 109
Dogs are not regarded by them with the same feelings; they
are considered unclean, and are seldom admitted into the house,
except by some persons of the Malekee sect, who do not, like
the Shaffaees and Hanefees, consider themselves defiled by their
touch. But though they draw this marked distinction between
them, the character given to the two animals appears to be in
favor of the dog ; which they represent, in the true spirit of
Oriental fable, when asked hereafter respecting the treatment it
received from man, concealing all the numerous injuries it has
received, and magnifying the few benefits, while the cat is sup-
])osed to deny the obligations conferred upon it, and to endeavor
to detract from the merits of its benefactor.
Though the death of a cat is not attended with lamentations
or funeral honors, it is looked upon by many of the modei'u
Egyptians to be wrong to kill, or even to ill-treat them : and
some have carried humanity so far as to bequeath by will a fnnd
for their support, in compliance with which these animals are
daily fed in Cairo at the Cadi's court, and the bazar of Khan
Khaleel.
The clap-net was of different forms, thougli on the same
general principle as the traps already mentioned. It consisted
of two sides or frames, over which the network was strained ;
at one end was a short rope, which they fastened to a bush or a
cluster of reeds, and at the other was one of considerable length,
which, as soon as the birds were seen feeding in the area within
the net, was pulled by the fowlers, causing the instantaneous
collapse of the two sides. ^ The Egyptian nets were very simi-
lar to those used in Europe at the j^resent day, but probably
larger, and requiring a greater number of persons to manage
them than our own : this, however, may be attributed to an
imperfection in their contrivance for closing them.
As soon as they had selected a convenient spot for laying
down the net. in a field or on the surface of a pond, the known
resort of numerous wild fowl, they spread open the two sides or
flaps, and secured them in such a manner that they remained
flat upon the ground until pulled by the rope. A man, crouched
behind some reeds growing at a convenient distance from the
spot, from which he could observe the birds as they came down,
watched the net,''^ and enjoining silence by placing his hand over
Ej;ypt; but the weasel was employed in i Woodcut No. .%1, part 2
Greece for the same purpose as the cat in 2 He was stvled hvoTTrrn by the Greeks,
the valley of the Nile. — S. B. (J. Pollux, Onom. v. 4.)
no
THE ANCIENT EGYPTIANS.
fPHAP. VIII.
liis mouth, beckoned to those hohling the rope to keep themselves
in readiness, till he saw them assemhled in sutificient numbers,
when a wave of his hand gave the signal for closing the net.^
The sign a(h)pted bv the Egyptians to indicate silence is
evidentl}" shown from these scenes to have been given by placing
the hand over the mouth ;"-^ not, as generally supposed,^ by
No. 367. Clap-nets, from the sculptures.
approaching the forefinger to the li})s ; and the Greeks errone-
ously concluded that the youthful Harpocrates was the deity of
silence, from his ap})eariiig in this attitude;'* which, however
humiliating to the character of a deity, was only illustrative of
his extreme youth, and of a habit common to children in every
country, whether of ancient or modern times.
Some nets were of a single piece, stretched over a frame ;
others were furnished with additional sections of a diamond shape,^
and in some the interior portion was surrounded by an outer
1 The net was called aat oy the ancient
Ejryptiuns : it is often mentioned in the
inscriptions and texts. — S. H.
- [t'oiif. Job xxix. 9: 'They laid their
hand on their inoiith,' &.C. — G. W.]
« And l)y riutaich, de Isid. s. 68.
•• Harpocrates docs jxot place his finpor
in his mouth. In the numerous hronzc
figures of this deity, the index or fore-
finger of his right hand is always put on
the chin, and not raised to the mouth ;
it may rather he considered that he i)oints
to tlie moiitli, tlian that he places his
finder in it — S. B.
•'• This calls to mind the nets mentioned
iiy J. Pollux (v. 4), of which a square part
termed the l.iqi^o( became l,oijPoiiii'is, of a
rliondioidal figure, as soon as the net (n
KVi) was stretched.
Chap. VIII. | FOWLING. 1 1 1
circuit of an oval form, to which the ring of the rope was
attached.
It is probable that the ancient Egyptians adopted the same
ingenious method of catching ducks, widgeons, and other
waterfowl, as the modern inhabitants of Lower Egypt, ^ wlio,
when tlie inundation covers the lands, creep un perceived to the
water's edge, and placing a gourd upon their head, with two
holes cut in front, through wliich they look, swim towards the
unsuspecting birds, and taking them one after another by the
legs, suddenly pull them under the water, and tie them to their
girdle ; thus, in a short space of time, securing great numbers
without alarming the rest.
The birds taken in nets were principally geese, ducks, quails,^
and some small kinds which they were in the habit of salting,
especially in Lower Egypt, where Herodotus^ tells us they 'ate
quails, ducks, and small birds undressed, having merely preserved
them in sait, living at the same time on all sorts of birds and fish,
not reckoned sacred, which were eaten either roasted or boiled.
For though geese constituted a very great portion of the food
of the Egyptians, both in the upper and lower country, and are
more frequently represented in the sculptures than any bird, it
is not to be supposed that they were preferred to the exclusion
of others ; and besides poultry and pigeons, which abounded in
Egypt, many of the wading tribe, the curlew, the ardea, and
several others were esteemed for the table, and even introduced
among the choice offerings presented to the gods. The prac-
tice of salting birds, in a country like Egypt, may, perhaps, be
considered singular ; but confirmation of the statement of
Herodotus is derived from the sculptures, where some poul-
terers appear to be in the act of preserving them in this man-
ner, and depositing them in jars.*
Lidependent of the birds taken in nets and by other means,
the Egyptian poulterers supplied the market with the eggs of
those most in request ; they also reared the young after the eggs
were hatched (which was frequently done, as already observed, by
an artificial process), and these were sold to supply the poultry-
yards of the rich, whose stock of wild fowl was often numerous.
1 The same is done in India. valley of the Nile, and in the desert. —
- [Quails were much prized when taken G. W.] 3 Herodot. ii. 77.
at Rhinocolura (Diodorus, i. 60). They * Woodcut No. 99. Smoked sjeese,
were, as we know, esteemed by the dried and kept for the table, are in use at
Israelites. They are common in the the present day.
112
THE A>X^IENT EGVI'TIANS.
[Chap. VIIL
The various birds represented in the Egyptian sculptures
cannot always be recognized with certainty, in consequence of
iG n
j;^ 368. Some of the birds of Egypt. Bern-Hassan,
i '<unit. ' 2. hanmt. 3. s's'a. 4. han. t. 5. sthh. 6. amu. /;. seheh. S. sa. t. 9. anheb.
10. kambet. 11. uat. 12. tent. 13. meruri. 14. ;. 15. • teneit t.' is its name. IC. musa. Ik rus'au.
the loss of the colors, or a want of skill in their artists, who,
WILD BIRDS.
Chap. VIII.]
113
^:
6 V » y
jil N/C' t;>-' l^r'
."5
"^zM
rf^rA
No. 369. Some of tlie Fauna of Egypt. Beni-Hassan and the tombs near the Pyramids.
1. ama. 2. kannu. 3. axa. 4. ar<. ,5. anlm. 6. .saft«. 8. swrw. 9. bnhu. 10. benka.
11. 7n(^« ewi . . . 12. ' ?eA-«( ' is its name. 13. kapu. 14. t'ams. 15-17. aM(re) <m(o) t'au(p) utd{s).
19. tekai. 20. staemxemu.
Figs. 18, 19, 20. Bats. 21. The locust.
Fro»i Thebes.
114
THE ANCIENT EGYPTIANS.
[CUAP. VIII.
disregarding the intermediate hues, adopted certain fixed cohn-s,
in a conventional manner, as an approximation ; and unless the
character of the birds is so marked as to be readily distinguished
by a simple outline, it is often difficult to identify them.
In some, however, there is sufficient to guide us without the
necessity of conjecture, and these I shall notice in their proper
order, without distinguishing between such as were forbidden
or admitted at an Egyptian table.
BIRDS OCCUEEING IN THE SCULPTURES.
1. Raptores.
Yiiltur Niibiciis.
Vultur percnopterus.
A(|uila.
Falco cinereo-ferrugineus.
Fors.
Falco ?
Falco-tenunculoi'des.
Bubo maximus.
Strix flamraea.
Strix passerina.
2. Insessores.
Laniiis excuhitor?
Corvus corax.
Coivus cornix.
Tardus viscivorus.
Alauda cristata.
Alauda arenaria.
Upupa epops.
Hirundo rustica.
Alcedo liispida.
Fringilla ; several species.
3. Rasores, or Gallinaceous.
Columba turtur.
Pterocles uielanogaster.
Perdix coturnix.
Otis Hebara ?
Strutbio oanielus.
4. Grallatores, wading birds.
Ardea garzetta.
Ardea cinerea.
Ardea cioonia.
Ardea nigra ;
and some otlier species.
Nunienius, Ibis.
Platalca.
Cberadrius armatus.
Scolopax gallinago.
Fulica atra.
Tbe large vulture of Egypt and Nubia,
wliich occurs frequently on the ceilings
anil sculptures of tbe temples.
The small white vulture, called also
Pharaoh's ben.
The eagle.
The kite, or Miluus. Falco ardea of
Savigny.
The sacred hawk.
The conunon brown hawk.
Horned owl.
White owl.
Small owl.
Great shrike, or butcher bird ?
The raven.
The Royston crow.
Missel thrush.
Crested lark.
Sand-colored lark.
Hoopoe.
The swallow.
Common kingfisher.
Finches.
Turtle-dove.
The Gutta.^
The quail.
Rutfed bustard ?
The ostrich.
Small white stork : the A. Virgo of
Ilasselquist.
Grey heron.
White stork.
Rlack stork (woodcut No. 369, ^j/. 13).
The ibis.
Spoonbill.
Spur-winged plover.
Snipe.
The common coot.
1 This name has been jciveu ii iu Arabic Iroui tlie noise it makes when alarmed and
flying.
AI>. VIII.J
FISHING
•
Xatatores, swimming birds.
Anser ^ii^gyptius ;
and other species.
Anas ; various species.
Anas creca.
Kecurvirostra avosetta.
Pehcanus onocrotalus.
Egyptian goose
Ducks.
Teal.
Avoset.
The pelican.
115
M?ny other birds are figured in the sculptures ; but as it is
difficult to determine the exact species to which they belong, I
shall not hazard any conjecture upon their names, having
noticed those which most commonly occur. In the tombs of
Thebes and Beni-Hassan the Egyptians have not omitted to
notice bats, and even some of the insects, which abound in the
Valley of the Nile ; and the well-known locust,^ the butterfly ^
and the beetle are occasionally introduced in the fowling scenes
and in sacred subjects.
An Egyptian gentleman fishing.
Thebes.
Fishing was an amusement in which the Egyptians
particularly delighted ; and not contented with the abundance
afforded by the Nile, they constructed within their grounds
spacious 'sluices and ponds for fish,' •'^ like the vivaria., of the
Romans, where they fed them for the table, and where they
amused themselves by angling'* and by the dexterous use of the
bident.
These favorite occupations were not confined to young
1 Woodcut Xo. 369,;?^. 21.
2 Woodcuts Nos. 366, 366, and 370
3 Isaiah xix. 10.
•* Isaiah xix. 8.
116
THE ANCIENT EGYPTIANS.
[Chap. VJIl.
persons, nor thought unworthy of men of serious habits ; and an
Egyptian of consequence is frequently represented in the sculj)-
tures, catching fish in a canal or lake with the line, or spearing
them as they glided past the bank. Sometimes the angler
posted himself in a shady spot at the water's edge, and, having
ordered his servants to spread a mat u[)on the ground, he sat upon
it as he threw the line ; and some with higher notions of comfort
used a chair for the same purpose. The rod was short, and
apparently of one piece ; the line usually single, though instances
occur of a double line, each furnished with its own hook, wliich,
judging from those I have found, was of bronze.
No. ?.7\
Beni-Hassan.
'I'liese fish are the shilbeh or rather the arahrab. The inscription reads senim aha, ' tha
brothers," or 'the two anglings.'
The fishermen — who, as I have observed, composed one of the
subdivisions of the Egyptian castes, and who gained their liveli-
hood by fishing — generally used the net in preference to the line,
but on some occasions they employed the latter, seated or standing
on the bank. It is, however, probable that these were people
who could not afford the expense of nets ; and the use of the line
is generally confined, in like manner, at the present day, to the
poorer classes,' who depend upon skill or good fortune for their
subsistence.
In all cases they adopted a ground bait, as is still ,the custom
ill Egypt, without any float; and though several winged insects
are represented in the paintings hovering over the water, it does
1 Vignette D, at tho head of chap. iv. vol. i.
Chap. VIII.
FISHIXG-XETS.
11-
not a])[)ear that they ever put them to the hook, and still less
that they had devised any method similar to our artificial fly-
fishing; which is still unkiiowii to the Egyptians, tliougli tlie
fish of the Nile are occasionally seen to rise to insects on the
water's surface. ^Elian^ mentions the tlirisiia., a fish of the
Marea Lake, which was caught by singing to it, and the sound
of crotala made of shells. The fish dancing up leapt into the
nets spread for them, giving 'great and abundant s})ort.'
The ordinary Egyptian net has l^een already mentioned.^ as
well as the mode of dragging it to the shore ; but it sometimes
haj)pened that they used a smaller kind for catching fisli in
shallow water, furnished with a pole on either side,^ to which it
was attached; and the fisherman, holding one of the poles in
No. 372.
A sort of lauding net.
Thebes.
either hand, thrust it below the surface of the water, and awaited
the moment Avhen a shoal of fish passed over it ; the same being
probably used for landing those which had been wounded with
the spear, or entangled with the hook.'*
When they employed the drag-net, and even when they
pulled it to the shore, a boat sometimes attended, in which the
fish were deposited as soon as they were caught ; those intended
for immediate use, to be eaten fresh, being sent off to market
when the day's sport was finished ; and the others being opened,
salted, and hung up to dry in the sun.'^
• ^lian, vi. 32.
2 It was called aai.
2, [A net of this form is used in India;
and in .Southern .Spain one precisely
similar is attached to the bowsprit of a
boat, which is moored in tidal rivers,
and the net is let down at the flow. —
O. W.l
4 Woodcut No. 372.
5 In the ' Praise of Learning ' the scribe
says, ' I tell you the fisherman suffers-
more than any employment; consider, is
he not toilinr^ on the river? He is mixed
up with the crocodiles: should the clumps
of papyrus diminish, then he is cryinjj out
for help ; if he has not been told a crocodil.;
118
THE ANCIENT EGYPTIAlSrS.
[Cjiai>. YITT.
Some were cut in half, and suspended on roj)es for this
purpose, the passing current of air beiug found to accelerate the
j)rocess: sometimes tlie body was simply laid open with a knife
from the head to the tail, the two
I sides bt'ing divided as far as the
~ hackUoiu' : and in many instances
0 the })r()eess consisted solely in tak-
t ing- out the intestines, and remov-
1 ing the head and tip of the tail,
I and exposing them, when salted,
^ to the sun.
When caught, the small fish were
I generally put into baskets, but
^ those of a larger kind were sus-
■| pended to a pole, borne by two or
■5 more men over their shoulders ; or
0 were carried singly in the hand,.
>^ slung at their back, or under the
g arm ; all which methods I have seen
1 adopted by the modern. fishermen,
'^ at the Cataracts of E\Sooan, and
^ in other parts of Egypt.
M> Salted 1 as well as fresh fish were
s nuich eaten'-^ in Egypt, both in the
^ Thebaid and the lower country, as-
^ the scul})tures and ancient authors
« inform us; and at a particular
M period of the year, on the ninth day
'^ of the first month (Thotli),^ every
m person was obliged, by a religious
oi'dinance, to eat a fried fish before
^ the door of his house, with the ex-
" ce})ti( »n of the priests, who were con-
'^' tented to burn it on that occasion.'*
Some fish"'' were particularly prized for the table, and pre-
is there, terrors liliiid liim." Ami then one
reading is, ' The lather makes the net
come out of the waters; his destiny is in
the hands of God.' (Maspero, ' Le Genre
epistolaire chez les anciens fiyyptiens,'
1872, p. 48.)
' Salt or prepared tish were called ukas,
and are often mentioned.
2 Conf. Herod, ii. 92; Diod. i. 36. Per-
haps the raoiKti Aiyinria of Julius Pollux,
Ononi. vi. 9.
3 The first of Thoth corresponded with
the 29th of August.
■» Pint, de Isid. s. 7.
5 The different names of fish have al-
ready been mentioned. Tlie ordinarv word
Chap. VIII. ]
FISH.
119
ferred as being more wholesome, as well as superior in flavor to
others ; among which we may mention the hidti^^ the gisher,^ the
benni,^ the shall or sheeldn^^ the shilbeh ° and ardbrab, the hyad^^
the f/armoot,~ and a few others : but it was unlawful to touch
those which were sacred, as the oxyrhjnchus, the phagrus, and the
lepidotus : and the inhabitants of the city of Oxyrhynchus ob-
jected even to eat any fish caught by a hook, lest it should have
been defiled by the blood of one they held so sacred.^
The oxyrhynchus, I have elsewhere observed,^ was probably
the mizdeh, the mormvrus, remarkable among the fish of the Nile
No 374.
2 3
Another mode of carrying large fish. Tomb near the Pyramids.
for its pointed nose,^^ as the word oxyrhynchus implies ; and the
resemblance of the Coptic name of that city, which was called
Mge, to that of the fish, strongly favors that opinion.
The phagrus was the eel, and the reason of its sanctity, like
that of the former, was probably owing to its unwholesome
qualities ; the most effectual method of forbidding its use being
to assign it a place among the sacred animals of the country.
The lepidotus is still uncertain ; its name proves it to have
been a scaly fish, but the various conjectures of naturalists have
led to nothing satisfactory respecting it. Linnteus believed it
to be a carp, the Cyprinus rubescens niloticus ; Sicard preferred
for fi^\\ in Ef;vptian was remi ; another
word, hut, evidently meant a kind of fish,
and was applied to v.hatever was abomina-
ble or detestable. — S. B.
' Or hooltee, Labrus niloticus.
2 Perca nihtica.
3 Cyprinus benni.
* Silurus shall.
5 The Silurus schilbe niloticus.
^ Silurus bajad.
' Silurxis carrnuth.
s Pint, de Isid. s. 7. [A prejudice still
prevents this fish beinp eaten by many of
the inhabitants of L'pper Eirvpt. — G. W.]
y ' Efivpt and Thebes,' p. 336.
10 Woodcut No. 100.
120 i'HE ANCIENT EGYPTIANS. [Cuap. Vlll.
the henni, and others the bulti^ or the gisher : l)Ut if I may be
pardoned for venturing a conjecture, there appears to be more
reason to su})pose it the kelb el haltr^^ called the dog-lish of the
Nile ; which, though a wholesome fish,^ might, from its appear-
ance, create a prejudice in the minds of a superstitious people,
sufficient to forbid its introduction at table, and obtain for it a
place among their sacred fish : nor do I know of an instance of
its introduction in the Egyptian sculptures.
Like the sacred quadru[)eds, they were not all regarded with
the same reverence in different parts of the country ; ^ Plutarch
even states that these three fish were generally held in aversion
by the Egyptians;* and the people of Cynopolis, according to
the same author,^ were in the habit of eating the oxyrhynchus,
which, he adds, 'was the origin of a civil war between the two
cities, till both cities, after doing each other great mischief, were
severely punished by the Romans."
Of all fish the bulti ^ was evidently preferred, and not,
indeed, without reason, being still considered inferior to none
produced in the Nile. Many others, not readily ascertained
from the mode of representing them, occur in the sculptures of
Upper and Lower Egypt, and we even find the eel and the
mizdeh introduced among those at Beni-Hassan and other places,
but the difficulty which this at first sight appears to present is
readily explained by the observation I have already made, of
their having been held sacred in some, and not in other cities
or districts of Egypt. Plato ' mentions the taming of fish in the
Nile and the royal lakes ; but it does not appear whether he
alluded to those which were sacred.
The favorite mode of fishing, among those who took a
pleasure in it and prided themselves on their skill, was with the
bideiit spear. They sometimes stood on the bank of a canal,
but generally used a punt, or boat made of papyrus,^ in which
' Salmo dentex, wliicl'i has very larsre Jig. 8; No. 370, J(/s. 1 ami ;'); No. 373, e
scales. and g, &c.
2 The fish ill E^npt are considered ' Polit. 532.
better after Octolier than in the suniincr « The name of papyrus, or bylihis, was
months: thcv think that fish with scales applied to more than one plant of the
are the onlV kind wholesome even in genus Cyperus, as I siiall have occasion to
winter. ' show. There were several names for the
3 Another fish, the latus, was wor- papyrus: as t'ama, for the hook, roll, or
shipped at Latopolis in the Theba'id. niaiuifactiireil article ; and pa apu, ' the
■* riut. de Isid. s. 18. papvrus,' from which the word was de-
5 Ibid. S.72. _ rivJd. — S. B.
6 It is represented in woodcuts No. 365,
Chap. VIII.] FISHING. — PAPYRU.S. 121
they glided smoothly over the lakes and canals within their own
grounds, without disturbing the fish as the}' lay beneath the
broad leaves of the lotus ])lant. The custom of angling for
amusement, and spearing with the bident, may be considered
peculiar to the higher orders ; and while the poorer classes em-
ployed the net and hook, as already stated, the use of the spear
was confined to the sportsman.
The bident was a spear with two barbed points, which was
either thrust at the fish with one or both hands as they passed
by, or was darted to a short distance, a long line fastened to it
preventing its being lost, and serving to secure the fish when
struck. It was occasionally furnished with feathers at the upper
extremity, like an arrow, to assist in its distant flight, and some-
times a common spear was used for the purpose ; but in most
cases it was provided with a line, whose end was held by the
left hand, or wound upon a reel- The same mode of fishing
is still adopted by many people who live on the sea-coast ; and
the fish-spears of the South Sea islanders have two, three, and
f(uir i)oints, and are used nearly in the same manner, and with
the same dexterity, as the bident by the ancient Egyptians.
On these occasions they were usually accompanied by a
friend, or some of their children, and by one or two attendants,
who assisted in securing the fish, and who, taking them off the
barbed point of the spear, passed the stalk of a rush through the
gills, and thus attached them together, in order more conven-
iently to carry them home.^
I have frequently had occasion to mention boats made of the
byl^lus or papyrus. It is evident that this plant, from its great
value and from its exclusive cultivation in certain districts,
where it was a government monopoly, could not have been
applied to the many purposes mentioned in ancient authors ;
v,'e may therefore conclude that several plants of the genus
Cyperus were comprehended under the head of byblus or papyrus.
This is not only in accordance with probability, frcun their
general resemblance, but is ex[)ressly stated b}' Strabo,^ who
says, that ' much grows in tlie lower part of the Delta, where one
kind is of an inferior, the other of a superior quality, and this
last is known by the distinctive a^^pellation of Hieratic Byblus.
That the profits arising from its sale may be increased the}' have
adopted the same plan which was devised in Judea regarding
1 Wooilcut Xo. 365,^^. 13. 2 Strabo, lib. vii. p. .i50, ed. Cas-
122 THE 'AXCIEXT EGYPTIAXS. [Chai'. VIII.
the date-tree and balsam, permitting it to grow only in certain
places ; so that, its rarity increasing its value, they benefit them-
selves at the expense of the connn unity.' And that under the name
'papyrus" he includes other kinds of Cyperus produced sponta-
neously in the marshy lands, is evident from his observing that
' the papyrus does not grow in great quantity about Alexandria,
because it is not cultivated there;' and Pliny,^ and other writers,
show tliat the plant to which they frequently applied this name
was wild in many parts of Egypt.
There is therefore reason to believe that several species were
comprehended under the general appellation of by blus or papyrus.
The Cyperus dives, which grows to the height of five or six feet, is
still cultivated in Egypt for many of the purposes to which the
papyrus plant is said to have been applied ; and I have no doubt
that this was the species commonly employed in former times for
making mats, baskets, parts of sandals, papyrus boats, and for
other ordinary uses ; the Cyperus papyrus, or Papyrus {byhlus)
hieraticus of Strabo, being confined to the manufacture of paper.
The great abundance of fish^ produced in the Nile was an
invaluable provision of nature in a country which had neither
extensive pasture lands nor large herds of cattle, and where corn
was the principal production. When the Nile inundated the
■country, and filled the lakes and canals with its overflowing-
waters, these precious gifts were extended to the most remote
villages in the interior of the Valley, and the plentiful su})ply
of fish they then obtained was an additional benefit conferred
upon them at this season of the year. The quantity is said ^ to
have been immense, as indeed it is at the present day \^ and the
shoals of small fish, which then appear in the canals and ponds,
call to mind and confirm a remark of Herodotus respecting their
numbers at the rising of the Nile. His explanation of the
cause of their a])i)arently sudden production is inadmissible and
unnecessary, as the })on(ls were always filled by artificial or
natural ducts; and the same species of young fry which are found
1 Plin.xiii.il. Accordin<r to one read- - Strabo, xvii. p. 566. Diod. i. 36, 43,
ing' Pliny savs, ' All the paper is <rro\vn and n2.
in'^the Sebennvtic nomc ; ' but another a Horodot. ii. 9.3. Strabo, /oc. CiY. f.Elian
gives, ' nothinfrl)ut paper is jrrown' there, (Hist. Anim. x. 43) calls it the 'fish har-
which, however erroneous, is evidently vest,' dfo^rof (;^Otwi'. — G. W.]
tiie sense required — ' non nisi charta' ■» Michaud says that the lake Menzaleh
for 'omuis eharta' — as he afterwards now yields an annual revenue of 800 purses
inenMons its bein;,' found in other i)arts of (.J6007.). (' Corresp. de I'Orient,' torn. vi.
E^rypt. lot. 1.5G.)
€hap. VIII. 1 FISHERIES. 123
there appear at the same time in the river ; nor are they of any
particular kind,^ but the 3-oung of the various fish inhabiting
the Nile.2
Herodotus mentions a large sum annually produced by the
fisheries of the lake Moeris. ' During six months,' says the his-
torian,^ ' the water of the river flows into it, and during the re-
maining half of the j^ear it returns from the lake into the Nile.
At this time, while the water is retiring, the profits derived from
the fisheries, and paid daily into the royal treasury, amount to a
talent of silver,* or about 193Z. los. English ;5 and during the
other six months, when the water flows from the Nile into the
lake, they do not exceed twenty minte ' ^ (about 64?. 128.). Diodo-
rus says, that when Moeris, from whom the lake derived its name,
and who was supposed to have made the canal, had arranged the
sluices for the introduction of the water, and established every-
thing connected with it, he assigned the sum annually derived
from this source as a dowry to the queen, for the purchase of
jewels, ointments, and other objects connected with the toilet.
The provision was certainly very liberal, being a talent every
day, or upwards of 70,700/. a year ; ' and when this formed only
a portion of the pin-money of the Egyptian queens, to whom the
revenues of the city of Anthylla, famous for its wines, were given
for their dress,^ it is certain they had no reason to complain of
the allowance they enjoyed.
I have frequently had occasion^ to notice the error of Herodo-
tus in confounding the lake Moeris with the canal, and have
proved from Pliny,^'' that the name was also applied to the canal
which conducted the water from the Nile to what is now called
the Birket el Qorn ; and in order to show the impossibility of
the return of the waters from the lake itself to the higher level
■of the Nile, and that Herodotus did not judge from his own
' De Saey's Abd-al-latif, note 141, in of Ejz-ypt would have been less improbable,
lib. i. c. 4. The lake IStoris is now farmed for thirty
2 I have cau<^ht a small net full of them, purses (210^.) annually. Of ninety piastres
and on examination found them to be of from the sale of the fish, ten are paid for
the Silurus shall and other common the boat, forty to the fishermen, and forty
species ; and no one who has eaten them to the iarmers of the fish. There are only
at table can have failed to observe that they now six boats on the lake.
are of ditferent kinds, from the <^rcater or » Herodotus (ii. 98) says, ' for their
less quantity of bones they contain. sandals;' Athenteus (Deipn. i. 2.j), 'for
3 Herodot. ii. 49. their dress;' a privilei^e continued to the
'^ Reckonin<r the talent at sixty minae. queens of Persia, after Egypt was con-
5 Some compute it to l)e22.5Z." quered bj- Cambyses.
6 The mina was 3^. 4s. Id. 9 ' Ej:vpt and'Thebcs,' p. 354.
7 Diodor. i. 52. From all the fisheries 'o Plin' xxxvi. 12.
124 THE ANCIENT EGYPTIANS. [Chap. VIII.
observation, but mistook tlie facts detailed to liini by his Egyptian
informants, who had in view the canal alone, when speaking of
the return of the water to the river, I shall repeat what 1 before
remarked on this subject.^
' Herodotus's account of the water returning from the lake t;)
the Nile, on the subsiding of the inundation, is totally inapplicable
to the lake Mcjeris, the level of its surface being about 100 or 120
feet lower than the bank of the Nile at Benisooef ; which, making
every allowance for the rise of the bed of the river, and the
})roportionate elevation of its banks, could never have been on a
level, even in Herodotus's time, with the lake Moeris; and con-
sequently no return of the water could have taken place from the
lake to the Nile. From the canal, however, it could, as at the
present day ; and the fish caught at the mouth of this and other
canals, at that season, still afford a considerable revenue to the
government, and are farmed by certain villages on the banks.
That the level of the lake Mceris must be now aljout the same as
formerly, is evident from our tinding ru^ns of baths on its borders ;
and the accidental and temporary rise of its waters, which
happened some years since, was merely owing to the bursting
of the great dyke at Tomeeh. As to the Bathen of the great
geogra})her D'Anville, it is quite Utopian."
The quantity of fish now caught in the lake Moeris itself, or
Birket el Qorn, is very great, and supplies the markets of the
Fyoom with abundance and variety of the finest kind — superior,
certainly, in flavor to those of the Nile, though of the same
siiecies; but it is probable that the saline quality of the water
may effect the slight change observable in the lake fish. 1 do
not believe it offers any species, or even varieties, differing from
those of the Nile, from whence, doubtless, it derived its original
stock ; and the twenty-two kinds it produced, according to the
information of Diodorus,^do not appear to have been at any time
considered different from those of the i)arent stream.
Like that of the canals, the lake fishing is farmed by the
government to some rich inhabitants of the district,'^ who are
usually Copt Christians; and the fisii, as in former times, are
either taken fresh to the market, or are dried and salted, as
Diodorus observes in his notice of the lake ; though the number
' ' Ejjvpt and Thebes,' p. 358. 3 The small villa-e of Ajjaltch, ai Tliehes,^
- Dioc'l. i. 52. Strabo, lib. xvii. p. 566, pays aiiniuilly 1500 piastres, about 21/., to
1 the Nile fish. {,foVciiiinent for the fish of its eaiuil.
Chap. VIIL] FISHERIES. 125
of persons^ engaged in this occupation bears a very small propor-
tion to that of former times.
This custom of farming the fisheries was probably derived by
the Arab government from their predecessors ; it does not, how-
ever, seem to have been adopted by them at their first occupation
of the country, but was introduced subsequently, since the Arab
historian El Makrisi mentions it as a new idea. The method
employed was doubtless similar to that of ancient times, which
continues to the present day; and the passage is so curious that
I shall introduce it from the translation given by the learned
M. Silvestre de Sacy.^
' Quant a la peche, c'est-a-dire, aux alimens que Dieu procure
aux hommes par la peche du fleuve, le premier administrateur
qui en a fait un objet de revenu pour le fisc, c'est encore Ebn-
Modabbir : il etablit un bureau expres pour cela; mais ne voulant
pas donner a ce bureau la denomination de bureau des peclies, qui
lui paroissoit ignoble, il le nomma le bureau pour la plantation
des pieux, et I'etablissement des filets. Cette nouvelle invention
fiscale se soutint. On deputoit pour la recette de ce droit un
inspecteur, des notaires, et un eateb, en divers cantons de TEgypte,
tels que le canal d'Alexandrie, le lac d'Alexandrie, celui de Nes-
tarawa, Damiette, les cataractes d'Oswan, et plusieurs autres
etangs et lacs. Ces commissaires partoient pour leur mission, au
moment on le Nil commen^oit a decroitre, et les eaux a se retirer
de-dessus les terres qu'elles avoient couvertes, pour rentrer dans
le lit du fieuve. Anterieurement a cela, on avoit ferm^ les ouver-
tures pratiquees dans les chauss^es, et les arches des ponts, au
moment ou le Nil avoit cesse de croitre, afin d'empecher les eaux
de se retirer vers le fleuve, et de les forcer a s'accumuler du cote
voisin des terres. Alors on plagoit des filets, et on laissoit Teau
prendre son cours; le poisson, entraine par le courant de I'eau,
arrivoit aux filets, qui I'empechoient d'aller plus loin, et de
redescendre avec Feau; ils'amassoit done dans les filets. On le
tiroit ensuite a terre, on le deposoit sur des tapis, on le saloit, et
on le mettoit dans des vases ; et, lorsqu'il etoit suffisamment fait,
on le vendoit sous le nom de ><alaisons et de sir. On ne preparoit
ainsi que le poisson qui etoit de la taille du doigt et an-dessous.
1 Diod. ^c. a7. : 'They say that twenty- (ret through the work imposed upon
two kinds of fish are found in it (the hike them '
Mceris), and so hvrge a number is cau;:;-ht, - In his 'Re'lation de I'Eg-ypte ' of Abd-
that the numerous salters who are con- al-latif, p. 283, note,
stantly employed there, can with difficulty \
126 THE AXCIEXT EGYPTIAX.S. [Chap. VIII.
Cette meme espece, quaud elle est fiaiche, se uomme absaria ; on
la mange rotie et frite.'
The great consumption of fish in ancient Egypt is not only
attested by Herodotus and other writers, but by the sculptures of
the up2)er and lower country; and the Bible makes allusion to
the 'fishers' ^ of the Nile, 'the sluices and ponds'^ where they
were preserved, and the regret Avith which the Israelites
remembered the fish they ate so 'freeh^' in Eg^-pt.'^
The chase of the hippopotamus * was a favorite amusement
of the sportsman in those parts of the upper country where it was
found. It was probably always rare in Lower Egypt,^ though
Pliny *^ says it abounded in the Sa'ite nome : but in Upper
Ethiopia this amphibious animal was common in the Nile, as at
the present day.'' Though not so hostile to man as the voracious
crocodile, it was looked upon as an enemy which they willingly
destroyed, since the ravages it committed at night in the fields
occasioned heavy losses to the farmer;^ and an additional
inducement to kill it was the value attached to its hide, of which
they made shields, whips,^ javelins,!'^ and helmets.^^ To the two
former purposes it is still applied ; and, as Plin}^ observes, it
retains its hardness perfectly, if preserved from moisture.
The whips are known by the name of eorhdg (corbaj), and
are in very general use in Egypt and Ethiopia for riding the
dromedary, or for chastising a delinquent peasant ; and it is
probable that it was also applied to the latter purpose by the
ancient Egyptians, since we find an attendant following the
steward of an estate, with this inq)lement of })uinshmeut iu liis
hand. ^2
' I.siiiali xix. 8. - Isaiah xix. 10. ^ Pliny and Dioilonis arc covrect in
3 Numb. xi. 5: ' We remember the fish saying- 'it feeds on the eornfickls ; ' lint
which we did cat in E^ypt freely.' the modern hippopotamus has not retained
•^ In Araliia it lias" the same name, the dexterity or the cunnin-i- of his an-
Faras el bahr, 'river liorsc' (mare); and cestors, in walking;- backwards to deceive
in the lanpuajic of Ethiopia, Yasint. his pursuers, mentioned in Plin. viii. 2.i.
5 It is not met with in Upper Euvpt, or, In the correspondence of Ameneman in
indeed, on this side the t>eeond Cataract, the 1st Sallier papyrus, the miseries of
at the present day. a^iriculturc are described. Amonjist them
6 Plinv, xxviii. 8. • it is mentioned that 'the caterpillar de-
" The' hippopotamus appears at so early vours the herb-<rardeii, the bca-^ts devour
a period — tlie 4th and Ath Dvnastv, in the other things ;' here tlic word for i)cast,
the tombs of Sakkiirah and (lizeii — tliat it tebt, is equally applicable to the hippo-
is difficult to believe that at that remote potamus. (Goodwin's 'Cambridjje Es-
period it did not descend to the mouths of says,' LS.'JS, p. 'iaO.) — S. B.
the Nile, and was chased' in the neijrhbor- '■•Plin. viii. 2'): ' Tergoris ad scuta
in;;- Nile. The name of the animal was galeasquc impen_etrabilis.'
khehem, or hecheni, and the female was '" Ilerod. ii. 71.
called teh ; and a lady on a Mem|)liian tomb " Diod. i. 3.").
of the 4th Dynasty is called Teh-t, the i- Woodcut No. 375.
fi'iiiali' hippopotamus. — S. ]i.
Chap. VIII.] HIPPOPOTAMUS-HUNTING. 127
The mode of attacking and securing the hippopotamus ap-
pears, from the sculptures of Thebes, to have been very simi-
lar to that now adopted about Sennaar ;
where, like the ancient Egyptians, they
prefer chasing it in the river to an open
attack on shore : and the modern Ethio-
pians are contented to frighten it from
the corn-fields by the sound of drums
and other noisy instruments.
I have already had occasion ^ to
explain the method of taking this
animal: it was entangled by a running
noose, at the extremity of a long line no" 375. Atteudant can'viag a
wound upon a reel, at the same time whip or corid^. Th.bes.
that it was struck by the spear of the chasseur, ' This weapon
consisted of a broad flat blade, furnished with a deep tooth or
barb at the side, having a strong rope of considerable length
attached to its upper end, and running over the notched summit
of a wooden shaft, which was inserted into the head or blade,
like a common javelin. It was thrown in the same manner, but
on striking the shaft fell, and the iron head alone remained in
the body of the animal, which, on receiving a wound, plunged
into deep water, the rope having been immediately let out.
When fatigued by exertion, the hippopotamus was dragged to
the boat, from which it again plunged, and the same was
repeated till it became perfectly exhausted ; frequently receiv-
ing additional wounds, and being entangled by other nooses,
which the attendants held in readiness, as it was brought
within their reach.'
Several representations of this subject have been found at
Thebes, but the destructive thoughtlessness of the peasants, or
the appropriating inclinations of travellers, have unfortunately
destroyed them, and few vestiges now remain beyond the figure
of the man, his spear, and a few minor details. I should, there-
fore have been unable to introduce a copy of this interesting
subject, had not the kindness of Mr. Humphreys, who was for-
tunate enough to obtain a sketch of one of them, furnished me
with it for the accompanying woodcut.^
The chasseur ^ is here in the act of throwing the spear at the
3 < Ecrypt and Thebes,' p. 226. -^ The principal luuiter is named Antef,
2 Woodcut No. 376. a prevalent family name at the time of the
128
THE ANCIENT EGYPTIANS.
[Chap. VllI,
hippopotamus, which he has ah-eady wounded with three other
bhides, indicated by the ropes lie hokls in his left hand ; and
having pulled the animal towards the surface of the water, an
attendant endeavors to throw a noose over its head, as he strikes
it for the fourth time. Behind him is his son, holding a fresh
spear in readiness: and in order that there should 1)e no question
>«o. oTG. Speiiriug the hniiicipotauius.
about the ropes belonging to the blades, the fourth is seen to
extend from his hand to the shaft of the spear he is throwing.
The upupa, heron, and other birds are frightened from the rushes
as the boat approaches; and the fish, with a young liippopotamus,
seen at the bottom ol the water, are intended to show the com-
munication of the fenny lake Avitli the Nile.
The mode of attacking the hippoi)otamus is thus described
llth Dynasty, to whicli period the tomb
must be assiuiicd ; lie is ciillod /lein ««,
' <;reat repeater,' and the hereditary lord
or duke and (Treat rnler or jrovernor in liis
nome or district, and ' is going to spear the
hippopotamus, deh;;litiiv^r in the (ichK an I
in all the pursuits of fowlinj; and fishin;^ '
The son who holds the javelins is a royal
scribe. — S. B.
Chap. VIIL]
HIPPOPOTAMUS-HUNTING.
129
by Diodorus : ^ ' It is chased," says the historian, ' by many per-
sons, each armed with iron javelins. As soon as it makes its
appearance at the surface of the water they surround it with
boats, and closing in on all sides they wound it with blades,
furnished with iron barbs, and having hempen ropes fastened to
No. 37T.
Spear used in the chase of the bippopotamu
Thebes.
them, in order that when wounded it may be let out, until its
strength fails it from loss of blood.'
The spear they used on these occasions was evidentl}' of a
different construction from that intended for ordinary purposes,
and was furnished, as Diodorus observes, with
a rope for letting out the wounded animal, in
the same manner as practised by the modern
Ethiopians : there was sometimes another line
fastened to the shaft, and passing over a notch
at its upper end ; which was probably in-
tended to give the weapon a greater impetus,
as well as to retain the shaft when it left the
blade. The rope attached to the blade was
wound upon a reel, generally carried by some
of the attendants. It was of very simple
construction, consisting of a half ring of
metal, by which it was held, and a bar turning in it, on which
the line or string was wound.
No. 378. A reel lield by
an attendant. Beni-
Hassan.
VOL. II.
1 Died. i. 35.
9
130 THE ANCIENT EGYPTIANS. [Chap. VIIL
Besides the fish cured, or sent to market for the table, a very
great quantity was set apart expressly for feeding the sacred
animals and birds, — as the cats, crocodiles, ibises, and others ;
and it is probable that some of the large reservoirs attached to
the temple were used as well for preserves or jyiscince, where the
fish were kept, as to afford a supply of water for the necessary
ablutions of the devout, and for various purposes connected
with religion.
With regard to the number of fish in the river of Egypt, and
the many species said to have been known there, it may be
conjectured that some formerly common to the lower parts of
the Nile are no longer met with to the north of the First and
Second Cataracts : or varieties of the same species may have
been enumerated in the twenty-two mentioned by Diodorus :
and we even find that the Ethiopians sometimes brought fish,
I^erhaps of a rare kind unknown in Egypt, as part of their
tribute to the Egyptians.^
That some animals, both aquatic and terrestrial, as well as
several botanical productions, once common in Egypt, are now
confined to the latitudes of Ethiopia, is well known : the crocodile,
formerly an inhabitant of Lower Egypt and the Delta,^ now
limits the extent of its visits northward to the districts about
Manfaloot ; and the hippopotamus is no longer seen in Lower
Ethiopia. And if one was known, some years ago, to wander
downwards into Nubia, below the Second Cataract, and another
even as far as Damietta, these were accidental occurrences, which
occasioned as much astonishment to the people who w^itnessed
their unexpected visit, as to the bewildered animals themselves.
As usual on such occasions, their unintentional intrusion,
where they could not be objects of terror, Avas punished with a
readiness which the same persons would not have displayed in
places where they are really obnoxious ; and every Turk or
peasant who could procure a weapon was fired with the proud
desire of destroying the intruder, and showed the same chivalrous
feeling usually called forth against an imprudent porpoise, who
has ventured to pass the bridges of the English capital.
But the hippopotamus once lived in Lower Egypt, and the
1 The fish l)roii<;lit from ISIesopotamia is the lai'i^^est, a battle occurred between
and elsewhere have been already men- the dolphins of the sea and the crocodiles
tioned. — S. B. of the river, the former bein<r victorious ! '
- Seneca (Nat. Qusest. iv. 2) says, 'At [This is also noticed by Strabo, xvii. p.
the IJeracleotic mouth of the Nile,' which 567, and Pliny, viii. 26. — G. W.]
Chap. VIIL] THE CROCODILE. 131
city of Paprerais, in the Delta, worshipped it as a sacred animal
worthy of the Egyptian Mars.
Neither the hippopotamus nor the crocodile appears to have
been eaten by the ancient Egyptians.^ Pliny indeed mentions
the medicinal properties of both of them :'-^ and Plutarch affirms
that the people of Apollinopolis used to eat the crocodile : ^ this,
however, was not a general custom, but merely upon a certain
occasion connected with religious superstition, and intended to
show their abhorrence of Typhpn the evil genius, of whom it was
an emblem. 'They have likewise,' he continues, 'a solemn
hunt of this animal upon a particular day, set apart for the
purpose, at which time they kill as many of them as they can,
and afterwards throw tlieir dead bodies before the temple of their
god, assigning this reason for their practice, that it was in the
shape of a crocodile Typhon eluded the pursuit of Orus.' *
This is one of the many instances of the different feelings with
which the sacred animals were regarded in various parts of Egypt :
and as Herodotus^ observes, ' Some of the Egyptians consider the
crocodile sacred, while others make war upon it ; and those who
live about Thebes and the lake M(jeris (in the Arsinoite nome)
hold it in great veneration.'
In some places it was treated with the most marked respect, and
kept at considerable expense ; it was fed and attended with the
most scrupulous care ; geese, fish, and various meats were dressed
purposely for it ; they ornamented its head with earrings, and its
feet with bracelets and necklaces of gold or artificial stones ; ^ it
was rendered perfectly tame by kind treatment ; and after death
the body was embalmed in a most sumptuous manner. This was
particularly the case in the Theban, Ombite, and Arsinoite nomes ;
and at a place now called Maabdeh, opposite the modern town of
Manfaloot, are extensive grottoes, cut far into the limestone
mountain, where numerous crocodile mummies have been found,
perfectly preserved, and evidently embalmed with great care.
The people of Apollinopolis, Tentyris, Heracleopolis, and
other places, on the contrary, held this animal in abhorrence, and
lost no opportunity of destroying it ; and the Tentyrites were so
' Some modern travellers have eaten 3 piut. de Isid. s. 50.
occasionally steaks cut from the crocodile, "• The crocodile was called by the Egyp-
thc flesh ot" which is musky and disag'ree- tians emsuh, ' out of an e^'^'',' and many
able; that of the hippopotamus is more other special names accordino- to its kind
palatable. — S. B. or qualities. — S. B.
- Plin. xviii. 8. 5 Herod, ii. 69. 6 ibid.
132 THE ANCIENT EGYPTIANS. [Chap. VIII.
expert, from long habit, iu catching, and even in engaging tliis
powerful animal in its native element, that they were known to
follow it into the Nile, and bring it by force to the shore. Pliny
and other ancient authors mention the wonderful feats performed
by them not only in their own country, but in the presence of the
Roman people : and Strabo ^ says that on the occasion of some
crocodiles being exhibited at Rome, the Tentyrites, who had
followed them, fully confirmed the truth of the report of their
power over those animals ; for, having put them into a spacious
tank of water, with a shelving bank artificially constructed at one
side, the men boldly entered the water, and entangling them in a
net dragged them to the bank, and back again into the water, in
the presence of numerous spectators.
Pliny observes that, ' though the Tentyrites are small men,
they have the greatest presence of mind in their encounters with
the crocodile, which is an animal most dangerous to those who
fear it, but timid when pursued. They even dare to follow it
singly, and swimming after it in the river spring upon its back,
and thrust a bar into its open mouth, which, being held at the
two extremities, serves as a bit and enables them to force it to the
shore.' Pliny even goes so far as to state that, frightening them
with the voice alone, they compelled tliem to render the bodies
they had devoured to the (disappointed j embalmers;^ but as
crocodiles show themselves much greater epicures in their mode
of eating, and tear their food to pieces before thev swallow it, we
may take the liberty of suggesting the probability that, in these
cases, the animal abandoned the body on their approach : its usual
habit being to bring it to the shore, and there to tear it up, the
clothes having been stripped off while in the water.
Seneca^ accounts for the power possessed by the Tentyrites
over the crocodile from their intrepidity, and in accordance with
Pliny, and with modern experience, he states it to be 'timid before
the bold, and most ready to attack those who fear it : the Ten-
tyrites excelling neitlier in their nature nor constitution, but in
their fearless contempt of it ; for they follow, and by means of a
snare, stop it in its' flight; nor are any killed except those who
are wanting in presence of mind."
'The crocodile is in fact,' as I have elsewhere remarked.*
'a timid animal. Hying on the approach of man. and. generally
' Straho, xvii. p. 560, cd. Cas. <» Seneca, Nat. Quaest. iv. 2.
i Plin. viii. 2r). * ' Eg:ypt and Thebes,' p. 409.
Chap. VIII.] THE CROCODILE. 133
speaking, only venturing to attack its prey on a sudden ; for
which reason we seldom or never hear of persons devoured by it,
unless incautiously standing at tlie brink of the river, where its
approach is concealed by the water; and where, by the immense
power of its tail, it is enabled to throw down and overcome the
strongest man, who, being carried instantaneously to the bottom
of the river, has neither the time nor the means to resist.
' Pliny, like other authors,^ has been led into a common error,
that the sight of the crocodile is defective under water, which a
moment's consideration, without the necessity of personal ex-
perience, should have corrected ; for it is at least reasonable to
suppose that an animal living chiefly on fish, should, in order to
secure its prey, be gifted with an equal power of sight ; and that
offish cannot be considered defective : but Herodotus, the father
of history and of errors, affirms ^ that it is totally '•'blind under
water."
'Egypt produces two varieties of this animal,^ distinguished
by the number and position of the scales on the neck. One has
the front row composed of six scales, behind which is a cluster of
four large central scales in two lines, with two smaller ones on
each side of the uppermost of these lines ; the other has in the
front row four only, and the disposition of the other eight is thus :
four central scales in two lines, with one smaller one on each
side of the upper line, and two behind the second and lower line.
The first row of the body consists of six scales, the former variety
having only four. The other scales of the body are nearly alike
in both. They do not exceed eighteen or nineteen feet, though
travellers have mentioned some of stupendous size.'
Herodotus enters into a detail of the habits of the crocodile,
and relates the frequently repeated story of the trochilus
entering the animal's mouth during its sleep on the banks of the
Nile, and relieving it of the leeches which adhere to its throat."^
The truth of this assertion is seriously impugned, when we
recollect that leeches do not abound in the Nile ; and the polite
understanding said to exist between the crocodile and the bird
becomes more improbable, when we examine the manner in which
the throat of the animal is formed; for having no tongue, nature
has given it the means of closing it entirely, except when in tlie
1 Aristot. Hist. An. ii. 10: 'They see 3 ' Esrj-pt and Thebes,' p. 225, note,
impei't'eetlv in the water.' Conf. Plin. xxviii. 8.
•^ lierocl. ii. 68. 4 Hci-od. ii. 68. Plin. viii. 25.
134 'i'HE ANCIENT EGYPTIANS. ICiivi-. V!IT.
act of swallowing; and during sleep the throat is constantly
shut, though the mouth is open.
The hostile intrusion of the ichneumon, related by other
writers,^ is equally destitute of probability.
That birds living on flies frequently Hit about the crocodile,
while lying on the sand, we can readily believe ; and this
circumstance, as well as the presence of a small running l)ird, a
species of charadrius^^ which is often seen on the same bank, and
which, loudly chirping on the approach of man, maybe sui)posed
to warn the crocodile of danger, very possibly led to the fable of
those visits of the trochilus^^ niid the friendly services it rendered
the sleeping crocodile.
Its eggs, as Herodotus and Pliny observe, are small, consider-
ing the size which it afterwards attains, being the size of a large
hen's egg, but longer in proportion to its width, and are deposited
by the female in the sand, or in the light loose earth of the
river side ; and its constant desire to enjoy the fresh air, during-
the summer, is shown by its lying for a length of time asleep
on the sandbanks, with its open mouth turned to the prevailing
wind.
' They had many different modes of catching it,' says Herodo-
tus ; * ' that most worthy of notice is as follows : They fasten
a piece of pork to a hook, and throw it into the middle of the
stream, as a bait ; then, standing near the water's edge, they beat
a young pig, and the crocodile, being enticed to the spot by its
cries, finds the bait on its way, and swallowing it, is caught by
the hook. Then they pull it ashore, and the first step is to cover
its eyes with mud, and thus being deprived of sight it is unable
to offer an effectual resistance.' We also find from the scul])tures
that they attack the crocodile with a spear, transfixing it as it
passed beneath the boat in shalloAV water. In Ethiopia, at the
present day, the crocodile is caught by tying a dog as bait on a
log of wood, round the centre of which a rope is fastened. As
soon as the crocodile has swallowed the dog, the cord being
pulled, the wood turns across in his throat, and he is then pulled
on shore.
The hatred borne by some of the Egyptians against the
crocodile frequently gave rise to serious disputes, and the in-
habitants of Tentyris, who had killed and eaten the sacred animaU
1 Plin. viii. 25. ^ The name trochilus signifies ' roller.'
2 CiiUeil sicsac in Arabic. ■* Herod, ii. 70.
Chap. VIII.]
THE CROCODILE.
135
of Ombos, were attacked with all the fury of i^eligious feud. On
one occasion, after many had been wounded on both sides, and
the Tentyrites were worsted and compelled to fly, the Ombites
secured a prisoner of the opposing party, and, if we may believe
Juvenal,^ satiated their revenge by eating his body. The state-
ment, however, is questionable, nor is it probable even in that
depraved age, when Egypt had passed under the dominion of the
Romans, that such a scene actually .occurred ; and great license is
always allowed to poets, and still more is taken by the severity
of satire.
1 Juv. Sat. XV. 33, SO.
Ti^^
No. 379.
Sacred tamarisk of Osiris. In the branches, the Beuiiu or
Phceuix. ' The Soul of Osiris.'
Haw.
Vignette H. — ]\Ioderu boats of the Nile. On the opposite bank is a whirhvimi of sand.
CHAPTER IX.
Arts and Manufactures — Glass — Linen — Dyeing — Rope-making — The Papyrus —
Leather-cutters — Potters — Cabinet-makers and Carpenters — Makers of Chariots
and Coffins — Coopers — Boats and War Galleys — Tin and other Metals — Gold
Mines — Gold Working and Gilding.
Of the progress of the ancient Eg3q3tians in man}' useful
branches of art we liave unquestionable proofs in the monuments
that remain, and from the evidence of ancient writers. The
sculptures inform us that many inventions were known to them
at the early })eriods when most other nations were still in their
infancy, whicli, though generally ascribed to a much later epoch,
are, from the facility we now have of fixing the chronology of
Egyptian monuments, ascertained to be coeval witli the Exodus,
or tlie bondage of the Israelites.
The scientihc skill they possessed in architecture is always a
matter of sur[)rise to the traveller who beholds the stu})endous
monuments of Egypt : whose solid nuisonry would have detied
the ravages of time, and have remained unimpaired to the present
day, had not the destructive hand of man been employed against
them. The invasion of Cambyses, and tlie subsequent wars with
the Persians; the three years' siege of Thebes, by Ptolemy
Lathyrus. which laid several of her buildings in ruins, and so
completely reduced that ancient capital that it was no longer
worthy to be considered an Egyjttian city ; the inveteracy of the
Chrisliaiis against their Pagan predecessors, and the abhorrence
Chap. IX. J ART. 137
of the Moslems for the monuments of the idolatrous infidels; and
lastly, the position of the temples, which presented themselves
to the mason as a convenient quarry, supplying, at little labor
and expense, abundance of stones for the erection of new edifices,
were the baneful causes of the downfall of Egyptian monuments:
but though great portions of the finest buildings were destroyed,
sufficient remains to attest their former grandeur, and to proclaim
the wonderful skill and mechanical knowledge of their founders.
At the period of the Persian invasion, Egypt was looked upon
as the great school of science, and the repository of all kinds of
learning; but the arts had fallen from the degree of excellence to
which they had attained under the Augustan age of the 18th
Dynasty, and though luxury and private wealth increased, taste in
sculpture and architecture had long since been on the decline,
and minute and highly-finished details were substituted for the
simple and dignified forms of an earlier period. The arts, how-
ever, continued to flourish under the succeeding dynasties, and in
the reigns of Psammatichus and Amasis the encouragement given
to architecture, sculpture, and painting seemed to promise an
improvement, if not the revival, of taste, and arrested for a time
their downfall ; but an unexpected event was destined to bring
about their sudden decadence, and the Persian conquest dealt
a blow from Avhich they vainly strove to recover in the suc-
ceeding reigns of the Macedonian dynasty : for not only were
the finest monuments destroyed or mutilated, statues,^ works
of art, and all the wealth ^ of the country carried off to Persia,
but the artists themselves were compelled to leave their homes,
to follow the conquerors to their capital, and to commemorate
the victories obtained over Egypt by the authors of their own
captivity and misfortunes. Thus deprived of the finest models,
humbled by the lengthened occupation of the country, and losing
the only persons capable of directing taste or encouraging art,
Egypt, already beginning to sink, vainly endeavored to struggle
with the (jverwhelming current of events ; and while Persia was
benefited, Egyptian art received its death-blow from the invasion
of Camb\'ses.
The Egyptians Iiad long been renowned for mathematical
1 Ptolemy Euei-o-etes is said to have stones, carried awav bv tlie Persians ; ' and
broujjht back 2.500 statues, when he in- i.49. This is also' alhidcd to in the Do-
vaded the Persian dominions, which had cree of Canopus, 1. 10, 11. (Lepsius, 'Das
been taken from E^'-vpt by Cambvses. hilintrue Dekret von Kanopus,' fol. Ber-
■^ Conf. Diodor. i. 46, 'The silver .and lin, 186G, p. 19.)— S. B.
gold, the abundance of ivory and precious
138 THE AXCIEXT EGYPTIANS. [Chap. IX.
science; but it was not till the power and wealth of tlie (•oiintiy
were at their zenith that full scope was given for its disi)lay in
the grand style of public monuments : a fact sufficiently indi-
cated by their increase of scale and vastness of size at that period ;
the buildings of olden time being generally of much smaller
dimensions than those of the advanced age of the 18th Dynasty.
I particulary allude to the temples and to the colossal statues
erected at the latter epoch, which far exceed in their scale, and
the size of the blocks themselves, the ordinary monuments of an
earlier era, as may be observed in the increased proportions of
the grand hall of Karnak, added by Rameses the Great, and tlie
dimensions of the sitting colossi of Amenophis, in the plain of
Thebes ; or that of Rameses at the Memnonium, which weighed
about 886 tons, and was brought over land from the quarries at
the cataracts of Syene, a distance of more than 120 miles.
Many obelisks, each of a single block of granite, had already
been hewn and transported from the same quarries, as early at
least as the reign of Usertesen I., whom I suppose to have been
the contemporary of Joseph ; and the same mechanical skill had
already existed even before that period, as is shown from the
construction of those wonderful monuments the Pyramids, near
Memphis, which, in the size of the blocks and their style of
building, evince a degree of architectural knowledge perhaps
inferior to none possessed at a subsequent epoch. But it was not
generally called forth in early times; they were then con-
tented with monuments of an inferior scale, and their ordinary
buildings were not of the same gigantic dimensions. A grand
work was then seldom undertaken without an a<k'quate motive,
and the knowledge they possessed was reserved for particular
and extraordinary occasions ; but when riches and the love of
show increased, they extended the size of their temples, and con-
stant practice having made the means familiar to them, artisans
and engineers vied with each other in hewing and transporting
colossal statues, monoliths, and other ponderous monuments,
which served for ornament and the display of their mechanical
knowledge.
It was not in this branch of science alone that the Eg3'ptians
excelled ; the wonderful skill they evinced in sculpturing or
engraving hard stones is still more surprising ; and we wonder
at the means employed for cutting hieroglyphics, frequently to
the dejith of more than two inches, on basalt, on syenite, and
other stones of the hardest quality. Nor were they deficient in
Chap. IX.] ART, RELIGIOUS AND DOMESTIC. 139
taste — a taste, too, not acquired by imitating approved models,
but claiming for itself the praise of originality, and universally
allowed to have been the parent of much that was afterwards
perfected, with such wonderful success, by the most highly gifted
of nations, the ancient Greeks ; and no one can look upon the
elegant forms of many of the Egyptian vases, the ornamental
designs of their architecture, or the furniture of their rooms,
without conceding to them due praise on this point, and admit-
ting that, however whimsical some of the figures may be in sacred
subjects, they often showed considerable taste, where the regula-
tions of the priesthood and religious scruples ceased to interfere.
In their temples they were obliged to conform to rules estab-
lished in the early infancy of art, which custom and prejudice
had rendered sacred : the ancient style was always looked upon
with the highest veneration, and it is probable that from the
same feeling of respect the formulae and diction of their books
of law or religion continued the same as in early times ; a cus-
tom prevalent among many people, whatever improvements
language undergoes : for neither would the Turkish Moslem
dare to translate the Arabic Qoran, nor the Cairene to alter it
to his own dialect ; and we might ourselves object to a Bible
written in the style of Robertson or Hume.
Plato and Synesius both mention the stern regulations which
forbade their artists to introduce innovations in religious sub-
jects ; and the more effectually to prevent this, ' the profession
of artist was not allowed to be exercised by common or illiterate
persons, lest they should attempt anything contrary to the laws
established regarding the figures of the deities.'
In their household furniture, and the ornamental objects
used in their dwelling-houses, they were not restricted by any
established rules ; here, as I have observed, much taste was dis-
played, and their vases frequently bear so strong a resemblance
to those of Greece, that we might feel disposed to consider
them borrowed from Greek models, did not their known anti-
(juity forbid such a conclusion ; and many have mistaken the
(u-namental devices attached to them and to other fancy works
of Egyptian art, for the productions of Greek sculptors. Now
that we are acquainted with the dates of Egyptian monuments,
the square border and scrolls, so common on Athenian, Sicilian,
Etruscan, and Grseco-Italian vases, are shown to be, from the
most remote time, among the ordinary devices on cups, and the
ceilings of tombs, at Thebes and other places ; and the graceful
140
THE ANCIENT EGYPTlANb.
[Chap. IX.
curve of the Egyptian eoniice, which, not confined to architec-
ture, is repeated on vases and numerous articles of furniture,
was evidently adopted, for the same ornamental purpose, by the
Greeks.^
One of the most remarkable inventions of a remote era, and
one with which the Egyptians appear to have been acquainted at
least as early as the reign of the first Usertesen, upwards of 3500
years ago, is that of glass-blowmg. The process is represented
in the paintings of Beni-Hassan, executed during the reign of
that monarch and his immediate successors ; and the same is again
repeated, in other parts of Egypt, in tombs of various epochs.
Pan 2,
No. 380. Part 1. Glass-blowers.
2. The same.
The glass at the end of the blow-pipe, h b, is colored green.
n is the fire. d, a glass bottle.
Beni-Hassan^
Thebes.
The form of the bottle and tlie use of the blow-pipe are un-
equivocally indicated in those subjects : and the green hue of
the fused material, taken froin the fire at the })oint of the pipe,
cannot fail to show the intention of the artist. But if the sceptic
should feel dis])osed to withhold his belief on the authority of a
painted representation, and deny that the use of glass could be
proved on such evidence, it may be well to remind him that
images of glazed pottery were common at the same period, that
1 Vases, woodcut No. 268; and doorways, woodcuts Nos 120, 121, and 123.
Chap. IX. ]
GLASS.
141
the vitrified substance with which tJiey are covered is of the same
quality as ghiss,^ and that therefore the mode of fusing and the
proper proportions of the ingredients for making glass were
already known to them ; and we can positively state that 200
years after, or about 1500 B.C., they made ornaments of glass ;
a bead bearing a (jueen's name ^ who lived at that period having
been found at Thebes by my friend Captain Henvey, R.N., the
specific gravity of which, 25-23, is precisely the same as of
crown glass now manufactured in England.^
M/r_ffHi(uOir
^ 1 muy,
C-3 ■
No. .181. Figs. 1, 2. Glass bottles represented in the sruiptures of Thebes.
3. Captain Henvey's glass bead. About the lealsize.
4. The hieroglyphics on the bea<l containing the name of a queen who
lived about 1500 B.C.
Many glass bottles and objects of various forms have been
met with in the tombs of Upper and Lower Egypt, some unques-
tionably of very remote antiquity, though not readily ascribed
to any fixed epoch, owing to the absence of royal names indica-
tive of tlieir date ; and glass vases, if we may trust to the repre-
sentations in the Thebaii paintings, are frequently shown to have
1 The glaze of course is vitreous, Imt
the ilated specimens of the period of the
12th Dynasty are chietiy, if not all, of a
kind of steatite glazed. — S. B.
2 The name is that of TJasheps or
Hatasii, sister and co-reirent of Thothmes
II. and Thothmes III. of the 18th Dynasty.
Tbc bead lias tiie titles of 'beloved" of the
goddess Ather, resident in Uas,' or West-
ern Thebes, and some other inscriptioij
not fpiite intelligiiile. — S. B.
3 This bead has becu recently examined
by Professor Maskelyne, who considers it
to be a kind of obsidian. It is of a liottle-
green color. Another bead of the same
kind, of a black and white color, also
resembling glass, is in the Museum at
Liverpool, No. 11568m, and is s-jpposed to
be agate. — S. B.
142
THE ANCIEXT EGYPTIANS).
IC'IIAP. IX.
been u.sed fctr holding wine, at least as early astlie Exodus, 1400
years befoi'e our era. [Tlie earliest dated example of glass is a
small fragment of dark-blue glass impressed with the prenomen
of Antel" III., (if the lltli Dynasty. There is also a bottle for the
toilet, in sliajie like a Greek oino<;]ioe\ of a
tur(ju()ise-l)lue color, and having orna-
ments and an inscription in yellow color
on the neck and body. The glass is seini-
opa(|ue, and partly ornamented with waving
lines. After the 18th, many fragments of
vases of the period of the 19th Dj'nasty,
and discovered amidst the dShris of the
Sarbet el Khadim, in the neighborhood of
Mount Sinai, were found by the late Major
Macdonald.— S. B.J
Till within a {ew years, prejudice for-
bade the belief that the ancients were
acquainted with the manufacture of glass,
and many persons could not be persuaded
that the Romans used it, though rejire-
sented in the paintings of Pompeii with
th the name ot x\iq niost Unquestionable truth, and a pane
III., of the 18th ^ , ^ ^
of glass and numerous fragments of broken
bottles had been discovered in that exca-
vated city. The fact, however, became established, and these
d()ul)ts were silenced: stillit was questioned whether the invention
dated before the destruction of that city ; the glass was much
condemned as of inferior quality; and the authority of Pliny,i
previously disbelieved, was now welcomed as an old friend, and
called forth to prove that glass was a late discovery of some
Phffinician mariners, who, having lighted a fire on the sea-shore,
and supported their cooking utensils on blocks of nitre, were
taught by the union of the fused substances the secret of this
useful invention. The Roman naturalist had fixed no time for
this event ; and if he spoke of im})rovements in the art intro-
duced in the reign' of Tiberius, it was presumed that, though a
vitrified substance was known, its qualities were not properly
understood, and that its discovery only dated about the Augustan
age. They even objected that under the first Emperors windows
were made of a transparent stone, brought from Spain and other
Bottle of light blue glass, in
scribed wi
Thothmes
Uviiasty.
No.'382 British Museum.
Plin. xxxvi. c. 26.
Chap. IX. J ARTISTIC GLASS. 143
countries, called Lapis specularis ; and they hence inferred the
imperfect knowledge of glass.
This stone is now well known under the name of talc ; it was
only used in the houses of the rich, in litters, or as an ornament
to the best apartments ; other persons being content with linen,
horn, or paper.
Such were the feeble arguments brought forward to disprove
the use of glass for vases and for ornamental purposes among the
Romans ; but with much less reason did they apply to its inven-
tion in other countries ; and though the Egyptians never knew
the necessity, or rather the annoyance, of glass windows under
a burning sun, they were well acquainted with vases of that
material ; and the workmen of Thebes and Memphis, and subse-
quently Alexandria, were famed for the excellent qualities of
glass ware they produced, with which Rome continued to be sup-
plied long after Egypt became a province of the empire. Strabo
was informed by a glassmaker of Alexandria ^ that a peculiar
earth was found in Egypt, without which it was impossible to
manufacture certain kinds of glass of a brilliant and valuable
quality ; and some vases presented by an Egyptian priest to the
Emperor Hadrian^ were considered so curious and valuable that
they were only used on grand occasions.
Such, too, was the skill of the Egyptians in the manufacture of
glass, and in the mode of staining it of various hues, that they
counterfeited with success the amethyst and other precious stones,
and even arrived at an excellence in the art which their succes-
sors have been unable to retain, and which our European work-
men, in spite of their improvements in other branches of this
manufacture, are still unable to imitate ; for not only do the
colors of some Egyptian opaque glass offer the most varied
devices on the exterior, distributed with the regularity of a
studied design, but .the same hue and the same device pass in
right lines directly through the substance ; so that in whatever
part it is broken, or wherever a section may chance to be made
of it, the same appearance, the same colors, and the same device
present themselves, without being found ever to deviate from
the direction of a straight line from the external surface to
the interior.
This quality of glass, of which I have seen several specimens,
has been already noticed by the learned Winkelmann, who is
1 Strabo, lib. xvii. '- Vopiscus, in Vita Saturniiii, c. 8.
144 THE ANCIENT EGYPTIANS. [Cuap. IX,
decidedly of opinion that 'the ancients carried the art of ghxss-
making to a higher degree of perfection than ourselves, though
it may appear a paradox to those who have not" seen their works
in this material.' ^ He describes two pieces of glass, found at
Rome a few years before he wrote, which were of the quality
above mentioned.^ 'One of them,'' he says, 'though not quite
an inch in length and a third of an inch in breadth, exhibits on
a dark and variegated ground a bird resembling a duck, in very
bright and varied colors, rather in the manner of a Chinese
painting than a copy of nature. The outlines are bold and
decided, the colors beautiful and pure, and the effect very
pleasing, in consequence of the artist having alternately intro-
duced an opaque and a trans})arent glass. The most delicate
pencil of a miniature painter could not have traced with greater
sharpness the circle of the eyeball, or the plumage of the neck
and wings ; at which part this specimen has been broken. But
the most surprising thing is, that the reverse exhibits the same
bird, in which it is impossible to discover any difference in the
smallest details ; whence it may be concluded that the figure of
the bird continues through its entire thickness. The picture
has a granular appearance on both sides, and seems to have been
formed of single pieces, like mosaic work, united with so mucii
skill, that the most powerful magnifying-glass is unable to dis-
cover their junction.
' From the condition of this fragment, it was at first difficult
to form any idea of the process employed in its manufacture ;
and we should have remained entirely ignorant of it had not the
fracture shown that filaments of the same colors as on the sur-
face of the glass, and throughout its whole diameter, passed from
one side to the other ; whence it has been concluded that the
picture was composed of different cylinders of colored glass,
which being subjected to a proper degree of heat, united by
(partial) fusion. I cannot suppose they would have taken so
much trouble, and have been contented to make a picture only
the sixth of an inch thick, while, by employing longer filaments,
they might have produced one many inches in thickness, without
occupying any additional time in the process ; it is therefore prob-
able this was cut from a larger or thiCker piece, and the number
of the pictures taken from the same depended on the length of
the filaments, and the consequent thickness of the original mass.
1 Winkelmann, ' Ori-. dc I'Art,' lib. i. 2, 19. 2 Ibja.
CuAP. IX. 1 GLASS. 145
'The other specimen, also broken, and about the size of the
preceding one, is made in the same manner. It exhibits orna-
ments of a green, yellow, and white color, on a blue ground,
which consist of volutes, strings of beads, and flowers, ending in
pyramidical points. All the details are perfectly distinct and
unconfused, and yet so very minute, that the keenest eye is
unable to follow the delicate lines in which the volutes termi-
nate; the ornaments, however, are all continued, without inter-
ruption, through the entire thickness of the piece.' ^
Sometimes, when the specimens were very thin, they ai^plied
.and cemented them to a small slab of stone of their own size,
which served as a support at the back ; and by this means they
were enabled to cut them much thinner, and consequently to
increase their number.
Two of the most curious specimens I have seen of this kind
of glass have been brought to England. One is in the possession
of Captain Henvey, R.N., to whose kindness I am indebted tV)r
the copy I have given of it, and of the bead before mentioned.
The other was found in Egypt by Dr. Hogg.^
The quality and the distribution of the colors in Captain
Henvey's specimen are strikingly beautiful ; the total size is
about l^Q inch square; an.d the ground is of an amethyst hue.
In the centre is a device consisting of a yellow circle, surrounded
by light blue with a bright red border, and on the four sides
shoot forth light blue rays edged with white. Around this,
which is isolated, runs a square ornament of briglit vellow,
■divided into distinct parts, formed by openings in each of the
sides ; and at the four corners a beautiful device projects, like
a leaf, formed of a succession of minute lines, green, red, and
white, the last two encircling the green nucleus, which meet in
a common point towards the base, and terminate in almost im-
perceptible tenuity. The delicacy of some of the lines is truly
surprising, and not less the accuracy with which the patterns are
executed ; and the brilliancy of the colors is as remarkable as
the harmony maintained in their disposition : an art then much
1 The j;lass described by Winkelm;inn an-ano-ed in patterns vertically, and hori-
is of the later Ptolemaic, or Roman period, zontal sections taken which had the pat-
and was not made Ijy the Egyptians at an tern on each side. — S. B.
older period. It was produced chiefly at - Plate XIV.,7?<7s. 5, 6, 7. Now in the
Alexandria, and used for small objects, British Museum. It represents the side of
and similar specimens are not unconimonl)' a throne of a deity or king, with feathered
found at Rome, which was supplied with or scale ornaments, and, like all the<e
glass from Egypt. This kind was made in specimens, is of a late period. — S. B.
cylindrical or square rods, the glass being
VOl„ II. 10
L4f) THE ANCIENT EGYPTIANS. [Chap. IX.
more stiuliously attended to, and far better understood, than at
the present day.
The secret of making these glass ornaments is more readily
explained from this specimen than any I have met with. It
consists of sei)arate squares, whose original division is readily
discovered in a bright light, as well as the manner of adjusting
the different parts and of uniting tliem in one mass; and here
and there we find that the heat applied to cement the squares
has caused the colors to run between them, in consequence of
})artial fusion from too strong a fire. This fact, and the dis])Osi-
tion of the separate squares, will be better understood from a ref-
erence to the plate (XIV., figs. 5, 6, 7), from which, too, some
idea may be obtained of the fineness of the lines composing the
devices.
Not only were these various parts made at different times,
and afterwards united by heat, rendered effective on their sur-
faces by means of a flux applied to them, but each colored line
was at first separate, and, when adjusted in its pro})er place,
was connected with those around it by the same process ; and
these, as Winkelmann very properly suggests, were cylinders
or laminae, according to the pattern pro}josed, which passed in
direct lines through the substance or ground in which they
were imbedded.
Paw, Goguet, and other antiquaries had long ago been con-
vinced that glass was known to the Egyptians, as well as to the
PhcEnicians, at a very remote period, and tlie immense emeralds
mentioned by ancient authors were considered glass imitations
of those precious stones ; a conjecture rendered still more plau-
sible by the experience of modern times, which shows that the
most noted jewels of Christian churches are frequently formed of
the same materials. Such were the colossal statue of Serapis,^
in the Egyptian labyrinth, nine cubits, or thirteen feet and a
lialf, in height ; an emerald presented by the king of liabylon
to an Egyptian Pharaoh,^ which was four cubits, or six feet, long,
and three cubits broad ; and an obelisk •''in the temple of Jupiter,
which was forty cubits, or sixty feet, in lieight, aii'l four cubits
broad, composed of four emeralds.'*
The opinion of those writers respecting the early invention
1 Plin. lib. xxxvii. 5, on the authority 3 Plin. loc. cit. Sec also Thcophr;istiis
of Apion, siirnaracd Plistoniccs. on Stones, s. 44.
- Plin. loc. cit. on the authority of ■• To iiave made them of g-lass rciiiiired
Theophrastus. extraordinary skill.
Chap. IX.] GLASS. 147
of glass is now fully confirmed; and whether the first idea
originated with the Phoenicians, or their neighbors the Egyp-
tians, we have satisfactory evidence of its use 3300, or perhaps
3500 years ago.
Of the different purposes to which glass was applied by the
ancients, Winkelmann gives a further account in the same
chapter, where he pronounces his opinion that, 'generally
speaking, it was employed more frequently in ancient than in
modern times ; ' and cites, as another proof of their great skill
in its manufacture, the vase preserved in the Palazzo Barberini,
at Rome, which, from the manner in which the layers of color
were united, 'had been mistaken for a real sardonyx." It is
the same that is now in the British Museum, and known by
the name of the Portland vase.^
That the Egyptians, at the early period of the 18tli Dynasty,
were well acquainted, not only with the manufacture of conunon
glass for beads and bottles of ordinary quality, but with the art
of staining it of divers colors, is sufficiently proved by the frag-
ments found in the tombs of Thebes ; and so skilful were they
in this complicated process that they imitated the most fanciful
devices, and succeeded in counterfeiting the rich hues and bril-
liancy of precious stones.^ The green emerald, the purple
amethyst, and other expensive gems were successfully imitated ;
a necklace of false stones could be purchased at a Theban
jeweller's, to please the wearer or deceive a stranger by the
appearance of reality : and the feelings of envy might be
partially allayed, and the love of show gratified, by these
specious substitutes for real jewels.
Pliny states ^ that the emerald was more easily counterfeited
than any other gem, and considers the art of imitating precious
stones a far more lucrative piece of deceit than any devised by
the ingenuity of man : Egypt was, as usual, the countr}' most
1 Some imitations of it were made by '- Seneca says that Democritus_ first
Wedii'wood. This vase is of bUie glass, showed the method jf poHshintr ivory,
with white figures in relief, which have and of imitating precious stones, (Episl.
been subsequently polished and chased by 90) ; but this was long after the art
the wheel or j;ravcr. One side represents was common in Egypt. Plin. xxxvi.
the capture of Thetis by Peleus, the other 26, and Herodot. ii. 69, who calls them
is unknown. It is saidto have been found /.lOtva x'-''^"' ^^' "'elted composition of
in the sarcophagus of Alexander Sevcrns, stone.
in the Monte del Grano, near Rome, in a -^ ' Non est smaragdo alia imital)ilior
large sarcophagus, whicli is of the period, gemma mcndacio vitri;' and 'ex crystallo
if not of the emperor, and tlie vase is of tinguantur smaragdi, .... neque est ulla
Greek or Grfpco-Roman work. It has been fraus vitse lucrosior' (lib. x. xxvii. c. 12,
often described. (G. Millingen, ' Ancient 33, To).
Unedited Monuments,' pi. A.) — S. B.
148 'i'llf: ANXIENT EGYPTIAN.>5. [Chap. IX.
noted for its skill in this manufacture,' and Slrabo^ says, 'that
an earth found there was tlie only kind which would answer for
certain rich and variegated compositions." The emeralds men-
tioned b}^ Apion and Tlietjphrastus, which, as before observed,
are supposed to have been ot" glass, might also be cited to show
that the art was known in a Pliaraonic age, if we had not
abundant and far more satisfactory proofs from specimens found
in the ruins of Thebes ; and we can readily believe the assertion
of Pliny, that in his time they succeeded so completely in the
imitation as to render it •• difficult to distinguish false from real
stones.' ^
Many, in the form of beads, have been met with in different
parts of Egypt, particularly at Thebes ; and so far did the
Egyptians carry this spirit of imitation, that even small figures,
scarabsei, and objects made of ordinary porcelain, were counter-
feited, being composed of still cheaper materials. A figure which
was entirely of earthenware, with a glazed exterior, underwent
a somewhat more complicated process than when cut out of
stone, and simply covered with a vitrified coating : this last
could therefore be sold at a low price ; it offered all the bril-
liancy of the former, and its weight alone betrayed its inferiority :
by which means, wdiatever was novel or pleasing from external
appearance, was placed within the reach of all classes ; or at
least the possessor had the satisfaction of appearing to jiartake
in each fashionable novelty.
Such inventions, and successful endeavors to imitate costly
ornaments by humbler materials, not only show the })rogress of
art among the Egyptians, but strongly argue the great advance-
ment they liad nuide in the customs of civilized life; since it is
certain, that until society has arrived at a high degree of luxury
and refinement, artificial wants of this nature are not created,
and the lower classes d(^ not yet feel the desire of imitating
their wealthier superiors, in the adoption of objects dejiendenl
on taste or accidental caprice.
Glass bugles and beads were much used l)y the Egyptians for
necklaces, and for a sort of network with which they covered the
wrappers and cartonage of mummies, arranged so as to foi'iu, by
liieir varied hues, numerous devices and figures, in the unmner of
I The memoir of ISI. Boudct, ' Sur rfi^jrypte,' vol. \\. |i. 213.
I'Ait de l;i VeiTcrie. ne en fiL^vpte,' in - 'Stnibo, lib. vvi. p. 521, oil. Cas.
thnt valiialile work tlie ' Description de 3 pUn. wxvii. 12.
CuAP. IX.] GLASS. 149
ovir bead purses ; and the ladies sometimes amused themselves by
stringing them for ornamental purposes, as at tlie present day.
The principal use to which glass was applied by the
Egyptians (besides the beads and fancy work already noticed)
was for the manufacture of bottles, vases, and other utensils ,
wine was frequently brought to table in a bottle, or handed to a
guest in a cupi of this material, and a body was sometimes
buried in a glass coffin.^ Occasionally a granite sarcophagus was
covered with a coating of vitrified matter, usually of a deep green
color, which displayed, by its transparency, the sculptures or
hieroglyphic legends engraved upon the stone : a process well
understood by the Egyptians, and the same they employed in
many of the blue figures of pottery and stone commonly found
in their tombs ; the stone, in one case, being covered with a
composition capable of vitrifying, and then exposed to a certain
degree of heat until properly melted and diffused over the
surface, and in the other dipped into a mixture, which was
vitrified in the same manner.^
Like the Romans, they used glass for mosaic work, and pieces
of various colors were employed in fancy ornaments, in the
iiguresof deities, in sacred emblems, and in the different objects
for which iidaid work was particularly adapted, the quality there
used being generall}^ of an opaque kind.^ In some of these
vitrified compositions, the colors have a brilliancy which is truly
surprising ; the blues which are given by copper are vivid and
beautifully clear ; and one of the reds, which is probably derived
from minium, has all the intenseness of rosso antico, with the
1 jrightness of the glassy material in which it is found ; thus
combining the qualities of a rich enamel.
Many of the cups discovered at Thebes present a tasteful
arrangement of varied hues, and evince the great skill of the
Egyptians in the nmnufacture of porcelain ; and no one can
1 In Rome the use of glass vases super- iiila3'ins: hierogh'plis and figures on walls
seded that of gold and silver (Plin. xxxvi. and other places, in a kind of toreutic
26). work, the parts representing the flesh of
2 Alexander the Great was said to have deities being blue, and of mortals red. The
l)een buried in a glass coffin at Alexandria. hieroglyphic objects were of their appro-
[Of glass as known to the ancient Greeks, priate colors ; white, yellow, blue, and
see Aristotle, ' Problem.,' and Aristo- red are found. Large specimens, proh-
phanes, 'Clouds," 756. — G. W.] ably from the walls, were found at Tel-el-
3 The principal material used for glazing Yaiioudeh. At tlie Ptolemaic period,
was the steatite already mentioned, and small figures of deities, principally Isis and
that chiefly for smaller objects, as scarabfei, Nephthys, made for attaching to necklaces,
-cylinders, small cups, figures, &c. — S. B. of dark blue glass produced l)y cobalt, are
4 The principal employment was for found. — S. IJ.
150 THE ANCIENT EGYPTIANS. [Chap. IX,
examine similar specimens without feeling convinced of the great
experience they possessed in this branch of art. The manner in
which the colors are blended and arranged, the minuteness of
the lines, frequently tapering off to an almost imperceptible
fineness, and the varied directions of tortuous curves traversing
the substance, but strictly conforming to the pattern designed
by the artist, display no ordinary skill, and show that they were
perfect masters of the means employed to produce the effect
proposed.
The Egyptian porcelain ^ should perliaps be denominated
glass-porcelain, as partaking of the quality of the two and not
being altogether unlike the porcelain-glass invented by the
celebrated Reaumur ; who discovered, during his curious experi-
ments on different qualities of porcelain, the method of converting
glass into a substance very similar to chinaware.
The ground of Egyptian porcelain is generally of one homo-
geneous quality and hue, either blue or green, traversed in every
direction by lines or devices of other colors — red, white, yellow,
black, light or dark blue, and green, or whatever the artist chose
to introduce ; and these are not always confined to the surface,
but frequently penetrate considerably iiito the ground, sometimes
having j^assed half, at others entirely through, the fused sub-
stance ; in which respect they differ from the porcelain of China,
where the flowers or patterns are applied to the surface, and
perhaps justify the use of the term glass-porcelain, which I have
adopted. In some instances, the yellows were put on after the
other colors, upon the surface of the vase, which was then again
subjected to a proper degree of heat ; and after this, the handles,
the rim, and the base were added, and fixed 'by a repetition of
the same process. It was not without considerable risk that these
additions were made, and many vases were broken during the
operation ; to which Martial alludes, in an epigram on the glass
cups of the Egyptians.^
That the Egyptians possessed considerable knowledge of
1 On the porcelain of Eg:ypt, see Birch, 'perfumed wine;' it is more frcqnently
' History of Ancient Pottery,' 8vo, Lond., siielt Murhina. If neuter, it sii,niities
1873, p. "47. It was made of a white sand, inurrliine cups, which are often called siin-
sliirhtly fused, and then covered i)v a ply murrha. Hy comparinji- the 13th book
colored body or ^laze. It was not a true of Martial's Epigrams with the 14tli, we
porcelain, but rather a kind of faience. — see the latter — ' ISIurrhine cups ' — is more
S. B. probable; had he meant 'perfumed wine,'
'•^ Marti.al, Epiff. lib. xiv. 115. [The lie would liave placed the epig-ram in book
epijjram is headed by the word ' Murrhina' xiii. — G. W.]
If of the feminine jxender, this signifies
(JHAP. IX.] GLASS-CUTTING. 151
chemistry and the use of metallic oxides, is evident from the
nature of the colors applied to their glass and porcelain ; and
they were even acquainted with the influence of acids upon
color, being able, in the process of dyeing or staining cloth, to
bring about certain changes in the hues,^ by the same means
adopted in our own cotton works, as I shall show in describing
the manufactures of the Egyptians.
It is evident that the art of cutting glass was known to the
Egyptians at the most remote periods, hieroglyphics and various
devices being engraved upon vases and beads made in the time
of the 18th Dynasty ; and some glass, particularly that which
bears figures or ornaments in relief, was cast in a mould. Some
have supposed that the method of cutting glass was unknown to
the ancients, and have limited the period of its invention to the
commencement of the seventeenth century of our era, when
Gaspar Lehmann, at Prague, first succeeded in it, and obtained a
patent from the Emperor Rodolph II. ; but we may infer from the
authority of Pliny, that glass-cutting was known to the ancients,
and that the diamond was used for the purpose, as at the present
day, even if they were ignorant of the art of cutting this stone
with its own dust. ' Diamonds,' sa3's that author,^ ' are eagerly
sought by lapidaries, who set them in iron handles, for they have
the power of penetrating anything, however hard it may be.'
He also states that emeralds and other hard stones were engraved,
though in early times it was 'considered wrong to violate gems
with any figures or devices;'"^ and the diamond was found
capable of cutting those of the hardest quality, 'for all gems,'
he observes, ' may be engraved by the diamond.' ^
It is difticult to decide upon the precise method adopted by
the Egyptians for cutting glass and hard stones ; but if nothing
remains to show the process they employed, there is sufficient
evidence of its effect ; and their early intercourse with India
may have led them to the knowledge of the diamond, and of its
great utility in engraving those materials. It is also probable
that emery powder, as I shall hereafter have occasion to observe,
and the lapidary's wheel, were used in Egypt ; and there is little
doubt that the Israelites learnt the art of cutting and engraving-
stones in that country.^
1 Plin. XXXV. 11. a sardon_yx (xxxvii. 1).
- Ibid, xxxvii. 4. ^ Ibid, xxxvi. 13.
'■i Ibid, xxxvii. Proem, and xxxiii. 1. ^ The stones engraved by the Israelites
He thinks the stone of Polycrates' ring was were the sardius, topaz, and carbuncle;
152
THE ANCIENT EGYPTIANS.
[Chap. IX.
Some glass bottles were enclosed in wicker-work,^ very nearly
resembling what is now called by the Egyptians a damagdn:
they were generally of considerable size, holding from one to
two gallons of fluid , and some of a smaller size, from six to
No. 383. Fig. 1. Has apparently leather sewed over the glass.
2. Glass rfamw/u?i enclosed in wicker-work.
3. Glass bottle covered with papyrus rush, like the Florence oil-flasks.
•1. A piece of cloth with a border of a blue color. Harrow Museum.
nine inches in height, were protected by a covering made of the
stalks of the papyrns or ci/perus rush, like the modern bottles
containing Florence • oil : ''^ others again appear to have been
partly cased in leather, sewed over them much in the same
manner as some now made for carrying liquids on a journey.^
Among the many bottles found in the tombs of Thebes, none
have excited greater curiosity and surprise than those of Chinese
manufacture, presenting inscriptions in that language. The
accidental discovery of a single bottle of this kind would nat-
urally pass unheeded, and if we felt surprised that it should be
deposited in an Egyptian sepulchre, conjecture would reasonably
suggest that an accidental visitor in later times might have
dropped it there, while searching for ancient treasures of a more
the emerald, sapphire, and diamond , the
ligiire, ajfate, and amethyst; the beryl,
onyx, and jasper. (Exod. xxviii. 17-20, and
xxxix. 10-13.)
1 Woodcut No. 383, Jig. 2.
2 Woodcut No. 3S3, fig. 3.
8 Woodcut No. 383,;%- !• The vases
of transparent <>'kiss, dark j^reen, with
globular or conical bodies and long necks,
like the Roman ungucntaria, appear.
Some of these? were found in a tomb of the
ageofthe26lh Dynasty at Gizeh A few
of these bottles, with more oblate bodies,
and of a white or light blue color, are in
ditlerenl collections, and are possibly
earlier, but the oldest known dated speci-
men ot transparent glass is the kind of
alabastos, stamped with the name of
Saigon, B c 607. — S B.
Chap. IX. 1
CHINESE BOTTLES.
153
valuable kind. But this explanation ceases to be admissible
when we find the same have been discovered in various Theban
tombs. I myself have seen several, two of which I brought to
England ; ^ another is described by Rosellini,^ and found by him
' in a previously unopened tomb, of uncertain date, which ' he
refers, ' from the stj'le of the sculptures, to a Pharaonic period
not much later than the 18th Dynasty ; ' a fourth is in the museum
No. 384.
Chinese bottles found in the Egj'ptiau tombs.
Fig. ]. In the Museum of Ahiwicli Castle,
li. Brought by me from 'J'hebes.
3. Belonging to .Mr. W. Hamilton.
4. From Thebes.
at Jersey , another was purchased by the late Duke of Northum-
berland, at Coptos, and is now in the Aluseum at Alnwick Castle ;
two others are in the possession of Mrs. Bowen ; and another
belongs to Mr. W. Hamilton. They are about two inches in
height : one side presents a flower, and the other an inscrip-
1 One is in the British Museum.
2 In his extensive work on the Egyptian Monuments, part 2, vol. ii. p. 337.
154 THE ANCIENT EGYPTIANS. [Chap. IX.
tion, containing, according to the valuable authority of Sir J.
Davis (in three out of the eight), the following legend, — 'The
flower opens, and lo! another year;' and another has been
translated by Thorns, 'During the shining of the Moon the
fir-tree sends forth its sap," which in a thousand years becomes
amber.
The quality of these bottles is very inferior, and they appear
to have been made before the manufacture of porcelain had
attained the same degree of perfection in China as in after-
times. A paper presented by Medhurst to the Royal Asiatic
Society would establish the fact of their having been brought
by the Arab traders, if, as there stated, the style of the char-
acters did not come into use till the third century of our era,
and the poems, from which the sentences were taken, were not
written till the 8th and 11th centuries. The earliest mention
of porcelain in China is also limited to the 2nd centur}- B.C.
A similar bottle was found by Mr. Layard at Arban, on the
Khaboor.
[It is now known that these bottles are of a comparatively
recent period. M. Prisse discovered, by questioning the ^Vrabs
of Cairo engaged in selling objects of antiquity, that they con-
fessed the bottles were never found in the tombs or ruins, and
that the greater part of the bottles came from Qous, Keft, and
Cosseir, depots of the commerce with India on the Red Sea.
The interpretation of the inscriptions of some of these bottles
has been given by Medhurst,^ and they are verses of poets who
flourished in the 7th and 8th ceuturies a.d. The one translated
by Sir J. Davis — reading Hiva kae i/ew yih neen^ 'The flower
opens to another year ' — is a verse of the poet Wei yung wuh,
who wrote from A.D. 702 to 725. Another bottle {d) has Che
tsai tsze i<Jia7i chun;/^ 'Alone on the mountain,' taken from the
poet Keih taou, who flourished a.d. 831 -837.^ The other in-
scription about the fir-tree on bottle /if//. 2 has not been identi-
fied with the composition of the i)oet who wrote it. Some
translate, 'Few know it.' The bottles resemble in shape those
used by the Chinese' for holding snufl'. — S. B.]
It has been questioned if the Egyptians understood the art of
enamelling upon gold or silver, though, even in the absence of
1 Transactions of the China branch of ■' Jacquemart and Le Blaiit, ' Ilistoirc
the Roval Asiatic Society. Pt. iii. 1851- tie la Porcclaiuc, fol., Pans, 1862, p. 192
1852, pp. 34-41. ■ and foil.
Chap. IX.] TEADE IX VASES. 155
further evidence, we might infer it from an expression of Pliny,^
who says, " The Egyptians paint their silver vases, representing
Annbis upon them, the silver being painted and not engraved.'
Small gold figures are frequently found with ornamented wings
and bodies, whose feathers, faces, or other colored parts are
composed of a vitrified composition, let into the metal ; some
again appear to have been really enamelled; and it is probable
that the early specimens of etieaustum were made by tooling the
devices to a certain depth on bronze, and pouring a vitrified
composition into the hollow space, the metal being properly
heated at the same time ; and when fixed, the surface was
smoothed down and polished.
Both the encaustic painting in wax, and that which consisted
in burning in the colors, were evidently known to the ancients,
being mentioned by Pliny,- Ovid,^ Martial,^ and others ; and the
latter is supposed to have been on the same principle as our
enamelling on gold. Pliny ^ says it was uncertain to whom the
invention was due: some ascribed it to Aristides, as that of per-
fecting the art to Praxiteles; but he supposes 'it was known,
long before that time, to Polygnotus, Nicanor, and Arcesilausof
Paros.' Bottles of various kinds, glass, porcelain, alabaster, and
other materials, were frequently exported from Egypt to other
countries. The Greeks, the Etruscans, and the Romans received
them as articles of luxury, which, being remarkable for their
beauty, were prized as ornaments of the table ; and when Egypt
became a Roman province, part of the tribute annually paid to
the conquerors consisted of glass vases, from the manufactories
of Memphis and Alexandria.*^ The intercourse between Egj-pt
and Greece had been constantly kept up after the accession of
Psammatichus and Amasis ; and the former, the jDarent of the
arts at that period, supplied the Greeks and some of the Syrian
tribes with the manufactures they required.
The Etruscans, a commercial people, appear to have traded
with Egypt, about, or a little after, the same period, and we re-
peatedl}" find small alabaster and porcelain bottles in their tombs,
which have all the character of the Egyptian; and not only does
1 Plin. xxxiii. 9. 2 Ibid. xxxv. 11. of the manufacture was the production of
, 3 Ovid, Fast. lib. viii. 275. glass cameos, like the Portland vase. The
* Mart. Epig. lib. iv. ep. 39. sand of Alexandria is stated by Strabo to
5 Plin. xxxv. 11. have produced excellent glass, and the
6 Great quantities of glass of all sorts glass-works of Egypt, especially of Alex-
and shapes were made at Alexandria dur- andria, suecessfuily competed with those of
ing the lioman period. One great branch Sidon. ^S. B.
156 THE ANCIENT EGYPTIANS. [Chap. IX.
tlie stone of the former proclaim by its quality the quarries from
which it was taken, but the form and style of the workmanship
leave no doubt of the bottles themselves being the productions
of P^gyptian artists.
It is uncertain of what stone the murrhine vases mentioned
by Pliny,^ Martial, and other writers, were made ; it was of
various colors, beautifully blended, and even iridescent, and was
obtained in greater quantity in Carmania than in any country.
It was also found in Parthia and other districts of Asia, but un-
known in Egypt : a fact quite consistent with the notion of its
being fluor-spar, which is not met with in the valley of the Nile ;
and explaining the reason why the Egyptians imitated it with
the composition known under the name of false murrhine, said
to have been made at Thebes'-^ and Memphis. The description
given by Pliny certainly bears a stronger resemblance to the
fluor-spar than to any other stone, and the only objection to this
having been murrhine arises from our not finding any vases or
fragments of it ; and some may still be disposed to doubt if the
stone is known to Avhich the naturalist alludes. But the fluor-
spar appears to have the strongest claim; and the porcelain of
Egypt, whose various colors are disposed in waving lines, as if
to imitate the natural undulations of that crystallized substance,^
may perhaps be looked u})on with reason as the false murrhine
of the ancients.
It is difficult to say whether the Egyptians employed glass
for the pur23ose of making lamps or lanterns: ancient authors,
give us no direct information on the subject ; and the paintings
offer no representation which can be proved to indicate a lamp,,
a torch, or any other kind of light."^
Herodotus ^ mentions a \fete of burning lamps' which took
place at Sa'is, and indeed throughout the countr}', at a certain
period of the year, and describes the lamps used on this occasi(.)n
as 'small vases filled with salt and olive oil, on which the wick
floated and burnt durincr the whole ino-ht ; ' but it does not
1 Plin. xxxvii. 2. some purpose connected with art ? If so,
2 Arrian (in his ' Periplus of the lied it is not probahle they were broujrht there
Sea,' p. 3) mentions yifliat vakt}^ irXiidva by the Christians, thoiij:h ircnerally found
yivri, Ko'i aXXrif noji'jHvrn Tru ytvonlvri^ cv upon the surface of the mounds.
AirinjToP.f/. AtMedeenet Ilaboo are numer- ^ Woodcuts No. 2ii0, fir/. 2; and No.
ous ajiatized pebbles, whicli were evidently 281, fi(/s. 4 and 9.
broujrht there (the nearest known spot •» In the funeral processions one person
where they are found beinj:- Nubia), but at carries what seems to he a candle or torch,
what period is uncertain. Were they not for ^ Herodot. ii. 62.
Chap. IX. 1
LAMPS. — LINEN.
157
appear of what materials those vases were made, though we
may reasonably suppose them to have been of glass. ^
The sculptures of Tel el Amarna, again, represent a guard of
soldiers, one of whom holds before
him what resembles, and may be
considered, a lantern ; but here too
there is great uncertainty, and
neither of these is sufHcient to de-
cide the question.
The Egyptians, from a most re-
mote era, were celebrated for their
manufacture of linen and other
cloths, and the produce of their
looms was exported to and eagerly
purchased by foreign nations. The
fine linen and embroidered work,
the yarn and woollen stuffs, of the
upper and lower country, are frequently mentioned, and were
highly esteemed.^ Solomon purchased many of those com-
modities, as well as chariots and horses, from Egypt ; and
Chemmis, the city of Pan, retained^ the credit it had acquired
in making linen stuffs nearly till the period of the Roma]] con-
quest.
Woollen gar]nents were chiefly used by the lower orders :
so]netimes also by the rich, and even by the priests, who were
permitted to wear an upper robe in the form of a cloak of this
material ; but under-garments of wool were strictly forbidden
them, upon a principle of cleanliness ; and as they took so much
pains to cleanse and shave the body, they considered it incon-
sistent to adopt clothes made of the hair of animals.^ No one
was allowed to be buried in a woollen garment,'^ in consequence,
as I have already observed, of its engendering worms, which
A guard apparently with a lantern.
No. 385. Tel el Amarna.
1 No lamps made of terra-cotta have
been found in Egypt older than tlie Komnn
period, nor has any glass vessel that could
possibly have been used as a lamp been
discovered. That the Eoyptians used
lifihts and oil for the purpose of illumina-
tion is clear from the temples and in-
scriptions, but the particular shape of the
lamp is not known. — S. B.
- There is no mention of woollen stuffs
m any of the lists hitherto founil, or in the
papyrus of ilameses III., in which the
oflferinss and fjifts to the temples are
descriljcd in detail. — S. B.
3 Strabo, xvii. p. 559.
■» Herodot. ii. 81.
5 Wool is exceptionally found on the
mummies in the Tombs. The workmen
buried in the Tourah quarries had woollen
wraps; and part of a woollen cloth wrap,
with patterns in various colors, was found
on a body amidst the rubbish of the
Pyramid. The a<je of these mummies is,
however, uncertain. — S. B.
158 'i'lIE ANCIENT P:GYPT1ANS [Chap. IX.
would injure the body ; nor could any priest enter a temple
without taking off this part of his dress.
The quantity of linen manufactured and used in Egypt was
truly surprising ; and independent of that made up into articles
of dress, the great abundance used for enveloping the mummies,
both of men and animals, shows how large a supply must have
been kept ready for the constant demand at home, as well as
for that of the foreign market.
That the bandages employed in wrapping the dead are of
linen, and not, as some have imagined, of cotton, has been already
ascertained by the most satisfactory tests ; and though no one,
even among the unscientitic inlial)itants of modern Egypt, ever
thought of questioning ihe fact, received o})inion in Europe had
till hitely decided that they were cotton ; and it was forbidden
to doubt that 'the bands oihyssine linen' said by Herodotus^ to
have been used for enveloping the mummies, were cotton. My
own impression had certainly been that the mummy cloths were
invariably linen, but positive experience had n(jt then confirmed
m}' opinion, and I reluctantl}^ yielded to the universal belief,
and concluded that some at least might be cotton.
The accurate experiments made, with the aid of powerful
microscopes, by Ure,^ Bauer, Thompson,^ and others, on the
nature of the fibres of linen and cotton threads, have shown that
the former invariably present a cylindrical form, transparent,
and articulated or jointed like a cane, while the latter offer the
appearance of a flat ribbon, with a hem or border at each edge ;
so that there is no possibility of mistaking the fibres of either,
except, perhaps, when the cotton is in an unripe state, and the
flattened shape of the centre is less apparent. The results having
been found similar in every instance, and the structure of the
fibres thus unquestionably determined, the threads of mummy
cloths were submitted to the same test, and no exception wa;:'
found to their being linen, nor were they even a mixture of
linen and cotton thread.
The fact of the mummy cloths being linen is therefore decided."^
It now remains to inquire into the nature of the bi/ssus, in which
I confess considerable difficulty presents itself, owing to the
1 ITerodot. ii. 86. * This question, with all the authorities
- ' Ure's 'Philosophy of INIanufactures,' on the siihjoct, is detailed in Ya.es, ' Tex
p. 9."). tvimiiii Aiiti(iiic>niin,' 8vo. Loud. 1843, p.
•^ Mr. Thompson on the Mummy Cloth 254 ami loll. — S. B,
of Ej,^ypt.
Chap. IX.] COTTON. 159
Hebrew shash being translated hyssos in the Septuagint Version,
and in our own, 'fine linen ;' ^ and to sliasli being the name applied
at this day by the Arabs to fine muslin, which is of cotton and
not of linen : ^ for the similarity of the words in tliese cognate
languages argues in favor ^ of the same meaning. On the other
hand, Herodotus says the mummy cloths were 'ofbi/ssine sindon," *
and they are found to be invariably linen : he uses the expression
'tree wool' to denote cotton;^ and Julius Pollux adopts the
same name,^ distinguishing it also from byssus, which he calls
a species of Indian flax. The use of the two words hyssus and
linon presents no difficulty, since they might be employed, like
our flax and linen, to signify the plant and the substance made
from it."
Cotton cloth, however, was among the manufactures of Egypt,
and dresses of this material were worn by all classes. Pliny
states that the Egyptian priests, though they used linen, were
particularly partial to cotton robes,^ and ' cotton garments,' sup-
plied by the government for the use of the temples,^ are dis-
tinctly mentioned in the Rosetta stone. Herodotus and Plutarch ^^
affirm that linen was preferred, owing as well to its freshness in
a hot climate as to its great tendency to keep the body clean,
and that a religious prejudice forbade the priests to wear vest-
ments of any other quality ; ^^ we may, however, conclude that
this refers to the inner portion of the dress; and the prohibition
of entering a temple with cotton or woollen garments may have
led to the notion that none but linen were worn by them at any
time. The same custom was adopted by the votaries of Isis,
when her rites were introduced by the Greeks and Romans ; ^^
and linen dresses were appropriated to those who had been
initiated ^^ in the sacred mysteries.
1 In Exodus XXV. 4; in Coptic, «A^/*s. pes, and apparently referring to the pre-
2 The word byssos is derived from the pared or boiled nature of the material, and
Egyptian ^6os, 'to clothe,' or ' clothes.' It used for towels and sails. (Yates, 'Tex-
is "supposed to rnean flax; but that was trinum Antiquorum,' p. 265.) — S. B.
called h'ma or mah. — S. B. ^ Pliu. xix. 1.
3 There are instances to the contrary, '^ ' The sacred robes with which the
as Jcussuf, ' silver,' in Hebrew, and kussub, statues of the gods are adorned.' (Plut.
'gold lace,' in Arabic, and others. de Isid. s. 78.)
4 Herodot. loc. cit. Sindon is unques- i" Plut. de Isid. s. 4.
tionably linen Sindon is probably the n Herodot. ii. 37 : ' The priests . . .
Hellenized form of the Egyptian ' word wear only one robe of linen, and sandals of
shenti, which was applied to a garment. the bybliis. They are not allowed to have
5 Herodot. iii. 47. anv other vestment, or covering to the feet.'
6 J. Pollux, Onom. vii. 17. i.2 Plut. de Isid. s..3.
' The other Greek term applied to linen 13 Apul. Metani. lib. xi. [Hence ' liniger
was phoson, a coarse cloth or canvas, used sacerdos,' applied to the Egyptian priests,
for towels or sails found in Egyptian as (Lucan, Phars. ix. 159.) — G. W.]
360 THE ANCIENT EGYPTIANS. [Cjiai-. IX.
Whatever restrictions may have been in force respecting the
nse of cotton among the priesthood, it is probable that other
individuals were permitted to consult their own choice on this
point ; and it was immaterial whether they preferred, during life,
the coolness of flax, or the softness of cotton raiment, provided
the body, after death, was enveloped in bandages of linen ;^ and
this regulation accounts for the mummy cloths of the poorest
individuals being invariably found of that material.
It was not only for articles of dress that cotton was manu-
factured by the Egyptians ; a great quantity was used for the
furniture of their houses, the coverings of chairs and couches,
and various other j)nrposes ; and a sort of cloth was made of the
united filaments of flax and cotton. This is mentioned by Julius
Pollux, who, after describing the cotton plant as an Egyptian
production, and stating that cloth was manufactured of the ' wool
of its nut,' says they sometimes 'make the woof of it, and the
warp of linen.' 2 The Jews^ were forbidden to wear dresses
of wool and linen — a quality of cloth still manufactured by the
modern Egyptians.
From the few representations which occur in the tombs of
Thebes, it has been supposed that the Egyptian looms were of
rude construction, and totally incapable of producing the fine
linen so much admired by the ancients; and as the paintings in
which they occur were executed at a very early period, it has
been conjectured that, in after times, great improvements took
place in their construction. But when we consider with what
simple means Oriental nations are in the habit of executing the
most delicate and complicated work, we cease to feel surprised at
the apparent imperfection of the mechanism or instruments used
by the Egyptians; and it is probable that theii" far-famed 'line
linen,' mentioned in Scripture and by ancient writers,"* was jiro-
duced from looms of the same construction as those represented
in the paintings of Thebes and Eileith3'ia. Nor was the praise
bestowed u|)on that manufacture unmerited ; ^ and, as I have
already observed, the quality of some extant specimens of linen
fully justifies it, and excites ecpial admiration at the present
'' In l'>iii:l:uul woollen cloth has been venli'il iho uil of weaving (vii. 5G) ; aiul
chost'ii fortius pui'pose, ill order to encoiir- Athonnpiis ascribes it to Patliymias the
ii'iu the staple commodity of the country. Kiryptian (I)cipn. lib. ii.).
■•^ J. Pollux, Onom. vii. 17. •'' Some was SO fine that it obtained tlie
8 Dent. wii. 11 aiipcllaiinn of ' woven air.'
4 Pliny allows liiat the Egyptians in-
Chap. IX.] MUMMY CLOTHS. ItH
day, being to the touch comparable to silk, and not inferior in
texture to our finest cambric.
The mummy cloths are generally of a very coarse quality ;
and little attention was bestowed on the disposition of the threads
in the cloths of ordinary manufacture. Mr. Thompson, who ex-
amined many specimens of them, is of opinion that the num\)er
of threads in the warp invariably exceeded those in the woof,
occasionally even by four times the quantity; and as his observa-
tions are highly interesting, I shall introduce an extract from his
pamphlet on the subject.
' Of the products of the Egyptian loom, we know scarcely
more than the mummy pits have disclosed to us ; and it would
be as unreasonable to look through modern sepulchres for speci-
mens and proofs of the state of manufacturing art amongst our-
selves, as to deduce an opinion of the skill of the Eg3q)tians
from those fragments of cloth which envelop their dead, and
have come down, almost unchanged, to our own time. The
curious or costly fabrics which adorned the living, and were the
pride of the industry and skill of Thebes, have perished ages
ago. There are, however, amongst these remains some which
are not unworthy of notice, which carry us back into the work-
shops of former times, and exhibit to us the actual labors of
weavers and dyers of Egypt more than 2000 years ago.
'The great mass of the mummy cloth employed in bandages
and coverings, whether of birds, animals, or the human species,
is of coarse texture, especially that more immediately in contact
with the body, which is generally impregnated with resinous or
bituminous matter. The upper bandages, nearer the surface, are
finer. Sometimes the whole is enveloped in a covering coarse
and thick, and very like the sacking of the present day ; some-
times in cloth coarse and open, like that used in our cheese-
presses, for which it might easily be mistaken. In the College
of Surgeons are various specimens of these cloths, some of which
are very curious.
'The beauty of the texture and peculiarity in the structure
of a mummy cloth given to me by Mr. Belzoni were very striking.
It was free from gum or resin, or impregnation of any kind, and
had evidently been originally white. It was close and firm, yet
very elastic. The yarn of both warp and woof was remarkably
even and well spun. The thread of the warp was double^ con-
sisting of two fine threads twisted together. The woof was
single. The warp contained 90 threads in an inch ; the woof,
VOL. u. 11
162 THE ANCIENT EGYPTIANS. [Chap. IX.
or weft, only 44. The fineness of these materials, estimated
after the m-anner of cotton yarn, was about thirty hanks in the
pound.
'The subsequent examination of a great variety of mummy
cloths showed that the disparity between the warp and woof
belonged to the sj'stem of manufacture, and that the warp gene-
rally had twice or thrice, and not seldom four times, the number
of threads in an inch that the woof had : thus, a cloth containing
80 threads of warp in the inch, of a fineness about 24 hanks in
the pound, had 40 threads in the woof; another with 120 threads
of warp, of 30 hanks, had 40 ; and a third specimen only 80 threads
in the woof. These have each respectively double, trel)le, and
quadruple the number of threads in the warp that they have in
the woof. This structure, so different from modern cloth, which
has the proportions nearly equal, originated, probably, in the
difficulty and tediousness of getting in the woof, when the
shuttle was thrown by hand, which is the practice in India at
the present day, and which there are weavers still living old
enough to remember as the universal practice in this country.'
Mr. Thompson then mentions some fragments of mummy
cloths sent to England by the late Mr. Salt, which he saw in the
British Museum. They were 'of different degrees of fineness ;
some fringed at the ends, and some striped at the edges.' ' My
first impression,' he continues, ' on seeing these cloths, was that
the finest kinds were miisUn, and of Indian manufacture, since,
we learn from the " Periplus of the Erythrean Sea,"' ascribed to
Arrian, but more probably the work of some Greek merchant
himself engaged in the trade, that muslins from the Ganges were
an article of export from India to the Arabian Gulf; but this
suspicion of their being cotton was soon removed by the micro-
scope of Mr. Bauer, which showed that they were all, without
exception, linen. Some were thin and transparent, and of very
delicate texture. The finest appeared to be made of yarns of
near 100 haidvs in the pound, with 140 ^ threads in the inch in
the war}), and about 64 in the woof. A specimen of muslin in
the museum of the East India House, the finest production of
the Dacca loom, has only 100 threads in an inch in the warp,
and 64 in the woof; but the surprising fineness of the ^-arn.
1 The finc^t linen from recent researches vary from 80 to 120 threads in the warp to
is found to li;ivc 152 threads in the warp 40_"in the woof. (Rev. Arch. 1870, pp.
and 71 in the woof, while the coarser kinds 217-221.) — S. B.
Chap. IX.] MUMMY CLOTHS. 163
which, though spun by hand, is not less than 250 hanks in the
pound, gives to tliis fabric its unrivalled tenuity and lightness.
' Some of the cloths were fringed at the ends, and one, a sort
of scarf, about four feet long, and twenty inches wide, was fringed
at both ends. Three or four threads twisted together with the
fingers to form a strong one, and two of these again twisted
together, and knotted at the middle and at the end to prevent
unravelling, formed the fringe, precisely like the silk shawls of
the present day.
' The selvages of the Egyptian cloths are generally formed
with the greatest care, and are well calculated by their strength
tu protect the cloth from accident. Fillets of strong cloth or
tape also secure the ends of the pieces from injury, showing a
knowledge of all the little resources of modern manufacture.
Several of the specimens, both of fine and coarse cloth, were
bordered with blue stripes of various patterns, and in some
alternating with narrow lines of another color. The width of
the patterns varied from half an inch to an inch and a quarter.
In the latter were seven blue strijDes, the broadest about half an
inch wide nearest the selvage, followed by five very narrow ones,
and terminated by one an eighth of an inch broad. Had this
pattern, instead of being confined to the edge of the cloth, been
repeated across its whole breadth, it would have formed a
modern gingham, wiiich we can scarcely doubt was one of the
articles of Egyptian industry.
' A small pattern, about half an inch broad, formed the edging
of one of the finest of these cloths, and was composed of a stripe
of blue, alternating with three lines of a fawn color, forming a
simple and elegant border. These stripes were produced in the
loom by colored threads previously dyed in the yarn. The
nature of the fawn color L was unable to determine. It was too
much degraded by age, and the quantity too small to enable me
to arrive at any satisfactory conclusion. Though I had no doubt
the coloring matter of the blue stripes was indigo, I subjected
the cloth to the following examination. Boiled in water for
some time, the color did not yield in the least ; neither was it
at all affected by soap, nor by strong alkalies : sulphuric acid,
diluted only so far as not to destroy the cloth, had no action on
the color. Chloride of lime gradually reduced, and at last
destroyed it. Strong nitric acid, dropped upon the blue, turned
it orange, and in the same instant destroyed it. These tests
prove the coloring matter of the stripes to be indigo.
164 THE AXCIENT EGYPTIAN'S. [Chap. IX.
'This dye was unknown to Herodotus, for he makes no
mention of it. It was known to Pliny, who, though ignorant of
its true nature and the history of its production, has correctly
described the most characteristic of its j)roperties, the emission
of a beautiful purple vapor when exposed to heat. Had his
commentators been acquainted witii the sublimation of indigo,
it would have saved many learned doubts. We learn from the
Periplus that it was an article of export from Barbarike on the
Indus, to Egypt, where its employment by the manufacturers of
that country, probably from a remote period, is clearly estab-
lished by the specimens here described.'
I have a piece of cloth, which was brought from Thebes by
Arundale, that offers a very good instance of the colored border
mentioned by Thompson. It is of ordinary quality ; the number
of threads in the inch are 96 in the warp, and 84 in the woof;
and the border consists of one broad band, and six narrow
stripes, of a blue color, evidently dyed with indigo. The band
which is nearest the selvage is one inch and two-tenths in
breadth ; the others consist each of two threads, in the direction
of the warp, with the excejDtion of the innermost one, which is
of five threads ; and the dividing line between the fourth and
fifth is varied by the introduction of a blue thread down the
centre.^ The rest of the cloth has the usual yellowish tinge,
'supposed to arise from some astringent preparation employed
for its preservation,' which, according to Thompson, imparts to
water a similar color, but offers no trace of tannin. 'In none
of the specimens I have examined,' he adds, ' did either gelatine
or albumen, or solution of iron afford any precipitate ; but the
sub-acetate of lead produced a cloud, indicating the presence of
extractive matter.'
It was evident that the color was imparted to the threads
previous to the cloth being made,^ as the blue remains unaltered ;
and the cloths with broad-colored borders are the more curious,
as they illustrate the representations in the paintings, and show
that they were similar to those made by the looms used in the
age of the Pharaohs of the 16th and 18th Dynasties, wliich occur
in the tombs at Eileithvia and Thebes ; and it is curious to see
1 Woodcut No. 383, ^^. 4. spin with their hands, and brouicrht that
2 As was the case with the threads used which they had spun, both of blue, and
by the Israelites (Exod. xxxv. 25) : ' And of purple, and of scarlet, and of line
all the women that were wise-hearted did linen.'
Chap. IX.] LINEI^ CLOTH. 1G5
the Nubians wearing shawls with the same blue borders, manu-
factured in the valley of the Nile, at the present day.
Another piece of linen, which I obtained at Thebes, has
152 threads in the warp, and 71 in the woof, to each inch; it is
of a much darker hue than the cloth just mentioned, and was
perhaps dyed with the Carthamus tinctorius,^ or sati'-Hower, which
Thompson supposes to have been used for this purpose. The
piece of fine linen, previously alluded to, is of the same light-
brown color. Some idea may be given of its texture from the
number of threads in the inch,^ which is 540 (or 270 d()ul)le
threads) in the warp ; and the limited proportion of 110 in the
Avoof ^ shows the justness of Mr. Thompson's observation that this
disparity belonged to their 'system of manufacture,' since it is
observable even in the finest quality of cloth.'*
Another very remarkable circumstance in this specimen is,
that it is covered with small figures and hieroglyphics, so finely
drawn that here and there the lines are with difficulty followed
by the eye ; and as there is no appearance of the ink having run
in any part of the cloth, it is evident they had previously pre-
pared it for this purpose.
Pliny cites four qualities of linen particularly noted in
Egypt : the Tanitic and Pelusiac, the Butine and the Tentyritic ;
and mentions in the same place ^ the cotton-tree of Egypt, which
he confines to the upper country. He also states that the
quantity of flax cultivated in Egypt was accounted for by their
exporting lihen to Arabia and India ; and the quality of that
produced by the Egyptian looms is shown to have been far
superior to anj other.
The threads used for nets were remarkable for their fineness ;
'and so delicate were some of them,' says Pliny,^ 'that they
would pass through a man's ring, and a single person could
carry a sufficient number of them to surround a whole wood.
Julius Lupus, who died while governor of Egypt, had some of
these nets, each string of which consisted of 150 threads — a fact
_ 1 I am still doubtful if it was indigenous 4 [Cor.f Ilesiod, Op. et Dies, 536, where
m Luypt. j)e jg directing how to make a warm winter
■- Some of our cambric has only 160 in garment. — G. W.]
an inch of warp, and UO of the woof. 5 Plin. xix. 1: 'Superior pars .Euypti
Tiie Egyptians, instead of throwing in xVrabiani vergens gignit fruticeni, quern
the shuttle, appear to have ])ut in the aliqui gossipion vocant, plures xvlon, et
tliread by means of a rod with a hook ideo lina inde facta xvlina.'
at cither end. Woodcuts Nos. 110 and 6 Ibid.
387.
1(56 THE ANCIENT EGYPTIANS. [Chap. IX,
l)erfectly surprising to those wlio are not aware that the Rhodians
preserve to this clay, in the Temple of Minerva, the remains of a
linen corselet presented to them by Amasis, king of Egypt, whose
threads are composed each of 365 fibres ; and in proof of the
truth of this, Mutianus, who was thrice consul, lately affirmed
at Rome that he had examined it ; and the reason of so few frag-
ments remaining was attributable to the curiosity of those who
had frequently subjected it to the same scrutin}'.'
Herodotus mentions this corselet,^ and another, presented by
Amasis to the Lacedaemonians, which had been carried off by
the Samians : ' it was of linen, ornamented with numerous figures
or animals, worked in gold^ and cotton. Each thread of the
corselet was worthy of admiration. For, though very fine, every
one was composed of 360 other threads, all distinct ; the quality
being similar to that dedicated to Minerva at Lindus by the
same monarch.'
Many of the Egyptian stuffs presented various patterns
worked in colors by the loom, independent of those produced
by the dyeing or printing process, and so richly composed that
they vied with cloths embroidered with the needle.^ The art of
embroidery* was commonly j^ractised in Egypt. We find that
the Hebrews, on leaving the country, took advantage of the
knowledge they had there acquired to make a rich ' hanging
for the door of the tent, of blue, and purple, and scarlet,
and fine twined linen, wrought with needlework.' ^ A coat of
fine linen was embroidered for Aaron; and his girdle was 'of
fine twined linen, and blue, and purple, and scarlet, of needle-
work.'*5
The gold thread used for these purposes is supposed to have
been beaten out with the hammer,'^ and afterwards i-ounded ; and
even the delicate net made by Vulcan, which was so fine that
the gods themselves were unable to see it, is represented to have
been forged on his anvil with the hammer.^ Pliny mentions
cloth woven Avith gold threads, sometimes entirely of those
materials, without any woollen or linen ground, as were the gar-
1 Hcrodot, ii. 182, ami iii. 47. « Exod. wviii. 39, ami xxxix". 29.
2 Conf. Exod. xxxix. 3. " ( 'oiif. Exod. xxxix. 3 : ' And they did
3 Martial, xiv. EpigT. 50. beat the jiold into thin plates, and cut it
4 Ezekiel xxvii. 7: 'Fine linen with into wires, to work it in the blue, and in
broidered work from Egj'pt.' tiie purple, and in the scarlet, and in th«
5 Exod. xxvi. 36, xxvii. IG, xxxvi. 37, fine linen.'
and .\xxviii. 18. ** Horn. ()<'. e, 274.
Chap. IX.] GOLD AXD SILVER CLOTH. 107
meiit of Agrippina,^ the tunic of Heliogabalus,^ and that Avorn
by Tarquinius Priscus, mentioned by Venius.^
' Colored dresses,' says Pliny,* ' were known in the time of
Homer, from which the robes of triumph were borrowed ; and
from the Phyrgians having been the first to devise the method
of giving the same effect with the needle, they have been called
PhrygloneH. But to weave cloth with gold thread was the inven-
tion of an Asiatic king, Attains,^ from whom the name Attalic
was derived ; and the Babylonians Avere most noted for their
skill in weaving cloths of various colors.'
The question still remains undecided respecting the time when
silver thread came into use ; and as no mention of silver stuffs
occurs in the writings of ancient authors, it has been supposed
that its introduction was of late date. Silver wire, however,
was already known in Egypt at the remote epoch of the 18th
Dynasty, as is proved by being found at Thebes of the time of
the third Thothmes ; nor is there any reason to suppose it was
then a noA'el invention, and it was probably known and used as
early as gold wire, which we find attached to rings bearing the
date of Usertesen the First.
This wire is supposed not to have been drawn, like our own,
through lioles in metal plates, but to have been beaten out, and
rounded with the file ; but the appearance of some found at
Thebes almost justifies the conclusion that a mode of drawing
it was not unknown to them ; and the omission of every repre-
sentation of the process in the paintings cannot be adduced as
an argument against it, since they have also failed to introduce
the casting of metals, and various other arts, with which they
were undoubtedly acquainted.^
It is reasonable to suppose that wire-drawing was first at-
tempted with the most ductile metals, that gold and silver were
first used, and brass and iron at a much later period ; and this is
farther argued by tlie probability of wire having been originally
employed for ornamental purposes. Gold thread and wire were
always made entirely of that metal, even to the time of the later
Roman emperors ; " nor are there any instances of flattened wii'e
1 Plin. xxxiii. 3. metals is represented in the tonib ofRekh-
2 Lamprid. Vit. Heliojj. c. 23. mara, at the time of Thothmes 111. The
3 Plin. loc. cit. hierotrlyph of a man meltinfr frold by blow-
* Ibid. viii. 48. injr throuoh a blow-pipe appears as early as
5 Attains, kintr of Perjramus. the 12th Dynasty. — S. B.
6 In the drawinfrs of the Hay Collection " Probably till the reign of Aurelian.
in the British Museum, the castino- of
168 THE ANCIENT EGYPTIANS. [Chap. IX.
wound round silk or lijien threads, or of silver or other wire o'ilt,
in the ruins of Herculaneum and Pompeii. That the Egyptians
had arrived at great perfection in the art of making the thread
is evident, from its being sufficently fine for weaving into cloth,
and for embroidery; and the exceeding delicacy of the linen
corselet of Amasis,^ on which numerous figures of animals were
worked in gold, required a proportionate degree of fineness in
the gold thread used for the purpose.
The colored dresses represented in the Egyptian paintings,
worn by women of rank and by the deities, much resemble our
modern chintzes in the style of their patterns, though it is prob-
able that they were generally of linen instead of calico ; some
were probably worked with the needle,^ and others woven with
gold threads.
I have already observed that the Egyptians possessed a know-
ledge of the effect of acids on color, and submitted the cloth
they dyed to one of the same processes adopted in our modern
manufactories ; as is plainly pointed out by Pliny in the following
passage : ^ ' Pingunt et vestes in iEgypto inter pauca mirabili
genere, Candida vela postquam attrivere inlinentes non colori-
bus, sed colorem sorbentibus medicamentis. Hoc cum fecere, non
adparet in velis : sed in cortinam pigmenti ferventis mersa, post
momentum extrahuntur picta. Mirumque, cum sit unus in
cortina colis, ex illo alius atque alius fit in vestes, accipientis
medicamenti qualitate mutatus, nee postea ablui potest : ita
cortina non dubie confusura colores, si pictos acciperet.' 'More-
over in Egypt they stain cloths in a wonderful manner. They
take them in their original state, quite white, and imbue them,
not with dye, but with certain drugs which have the power of
absorbing' and takino: color. When this is done, there is still
no appearance of change in the cloths ; but so soon as they are
dipped into a bath of the pigment (which has been prepared for
the purpose) they are taken out properly colored. The singular
thinof is, that thouo-h the bath contains only one color, several
hues are imparted to the piece, these changes depending on the
nature of the drug employed ; nor can the color be afterwards
washed off; and surely if the bath had many colors in it they
must have presented a confused appearance on the cloth.'
From this it is evideiut that the cloth was prepared before
steeping ; the instantaneous effect he mentions could only be
1 Herod, iii. 47. 2 Lucan, Phars. x. 141. 3 piiu. xxxv. 11.
Chap. IX. 1 DYEING. 169
produced by the powerful agency of mordants ; and they not
only used them to make the cloth ta]ve the color equally, but
also to change the hues.
Whether the Egyptians really understood the principle on
which the salts and acids of the mordants acted, or calculated
tiieir effects solely from the experience they had acquired, it is
diihcult to decide. They had long been used in Europe before
their chemical agency was properly explained ; and when the
term mordant was first applied by the French dyers they imag-
ined • that the intention of passing the substances which were
to be dyed through certain saline liquors was to corrode some-
thing that opposed the entering of the coloring principle, and
to enlarge the pores of the substances' (the effect of acids in
changing the hues being a later discovery). We cannot therefore
positively prove that the Egyptians had a knowledge of chem-
istr3% though from their long experience, and from their skill
in the emplojanent of the metallic oxides, we may find strong
reasons to infer it ; fin", if at first ignorant of the reason of such
changes, it is probable that in process of time they were led to
investigate the causes by which they were effected.
Many discoveries, and even inventions, are more the effect of
chance than of studious reflection, and the principle is often the
last to be understood. In discoveries this is generally the case, in
inventions frequently. But when men have observed, from long
practice, a fixed and undeviating result their curiosity naturally
becomes excited ; the thirst for knowledge, and above all the
desire of benefiting by the discovery, prompt them to scrutinize
the causes to which they are so much indebted ; and few people
who have made any advance in the arts of civilized life long
remain ignortfnt of the means of improving their knowledge.
We may therefore suppose some general notions of chenfistry,
or at least of chemical agency, were known to the Egyptians ;
and the beautiful colors they obtained from copper, the compo-
sition of various metals, and their knowledge of the effects
produced on different substances by the salts of the earth, tend
to confirm this opinion.
The Egyptian yarn seems all to have been spun with the
hand, and the spindle is seen in all the pictures representing the
manufacture of cloth. Spinning was principally the occupation
of women ; ^ but men also used the spindle, and were engaged in
1 Woodcut No. 110, vol. i. p. 317.
170
THE ANCIENT EGYPTIANS.
[ClIAP. IX.
the loom ; though'not, as Herodotus ^ would lead us to sujjpose, to
the exclusion of women, who, he pretends, undertook the duties
of men in other countries, ' by going to market, and engaging in
business, while the men, shut up in the house, worked at the
loom. Men, to this day, are employed in making cloth in
Egypt and in other countries, but it cannot be said that they
have relinquished their habits for those of women ; and we find
from the paintings executed by the Egyptians themselves, far
Part 1.
d ^ e f 0 fc *
No. 386. Part 1. Men engaged in spinning, and making a sort of network.
2. The Lorizontal loom, or perhaps mat-making, as in Spain.
Beni-Hassan.
more authentic and credible than the casual remarks of a Greek,
that both men and women were employed in manufacturing
cloth.
'Other nations,' continues the historian, ' make cloth by
pushing the woof upwards, the Egyptians, on the contrary, press
it down ; ' and this is confirmed by the paintings ^ which represent
the process of making cloth ; but at Thebes, a man Avho is
engaged in making a piece of cloth with a colored border or
selvage, apj)ears to })ush the woof upwards, the cloth being fixed
above him to the upper part of the frame. They had also the
horizontal loom, which occurs at Beni-Hassan and other places.
1 Herodot. ii. 3.5. Sophocles, CEdip. Col. v. 352, makes the same remark.
2 In woodcut No. 110,/^. 2, vol i. p. 317.
€hap. IX. 1
WEAVING.
171
In the hieroglyphics over persons employed with the spindle,
it is remarkable that the word saht, which in Coptic signifies
' to twist,' constantly occurs. The spindles were generally
small, being about one foot three inches in length, and several
have been found at Thebes, and are now preserved in the mu-
iry^fC^yf.}
fig.u
fig-i
No. 387.
3 I
Fig. 1. A piece of cloth on a frame.
2. A loom.
Eileitluiia.
Thebes.
k is a shuttle, uot thrown, but put in with the hand. It had a hook at each end.
Woodcut No. no. Jig. 2.
seums of Europe.^ They were generally of wood, and, in order
to increase their impetus in turning, the circular head was
occasionally of gypsum, or comiDosition : some, however, were
of a light plaited work, made of rushes, or palm leaves, stained
of various colors and furnished with a loop of the same
materials, for securina; the twine after it was wound.^
1 One of those in the British ^luseum,
which was found at Thebes, had some of
the linen thread with it. Woodcut No.
388, fig. 2.
2 "Woodcut No. 388, fg. 5. Another of
y/ood, fig. 6.
172
THE ANCIENT EGYPTIANS.
ICUAP. IX.
Besides the use of the spindle,^ and the form of the h)om,
we find the two principal purposes to which flax was applied
represented in the paintings of the tombs : and at Beni-Hassan
No. 388.
Spindles.
British and Berlin Museums.
Fig. 1 is a sort of cane split at tlie top to give it a globular shape.
2 has the head of gypsum.
3, entirely of wood.
4, of plaited or basket work.
5, the loop to put over the twine.
6, a ring of wood for securing the twine.
the mode of cultivating the plant, in the same square beds now
met with throughout Egypt (much resembling our salt-pans), the
process of beating the stalks and making them into ropes, and
the manufacture of a piece of cloth, are distinctly pointed out.^
It is, however, ppssible that the part of the picture where
men are represented pouring water from earthen pots, may refer
to the process of steeping the stalks of the plant, after they were
cut ; the s(;[uare spaces would then indicate the different pits in
1 The ordinary distaff docs not occur in
these subjects, hut wc may conclude tlicy
liad it; and Homer mentions one of ji'oUl,
j;iven to Helen by ' Alcandra, the wife of
Polvbus,' who lived in Egyptian Thebes
(Oil. A, 131.)
2 Woodcut No. 389.
Chap. IX.
WEAVING.
173
which they were immersed, containing some less, some more
water, according to the state in which they were required ; and
this is rendered more probable by the flight of steps, for
174
THE AN'CIENT EGYPTIANS.
[Chap. IX.
ascending to the top of tlie raised side of the pits, which would
not have been introduced if tlie level ground were intended.
The steeping, and the subsequent process of beating the
stalks with mallets, illustrate the following passage of Pliny ^
upon the same subject : ' The stalks themselves are immersed
in water, warmed by the heat of the sun, and are kept down by
weights i)laced upon them , for nothing is lighter than flax.
The membrane, or rind, becoming loose, is a sign of their being
sufficiently macerated. They are then taken out, and repeat-
edly turned over in the sun, until ])erfectly dried; and after-
wards beaten b}- mallets on stone slal)S. That which is nearest
the rind is called stvpa, "tow," inferior to the inner fibres, and
fit only for the wicks of lamps. It is combed out with iron
hooks, until all the rind is removed. The inner j^art is of a
whiter and finer quality. Men are not ashamed to prepare it.
. . . After it is made into yarn, it is polished by striking it on
a hard stone moistened with water ; and when woven into cloth,
it is again beaten with clubs, being always improved iu pro-
portion as it is beaten.'
They also parted and cleansed the fibres of the flax with a
sort of comb, probably answering to the iron hooks mentioned
by Pliny; two of which, found with some tow at Thebes, are
No. 390.
Wooden comb found with some tow.
Berlin .\fusmm.
preserved in the Berlin Museum ; one having twenty-nine, the
other forty-six, teeth .^
The border of some of their cloths consists of longr fringes,
formed b}' the projecting threads of the warp, twisted together.
and tied at the end in one or more knots, to prevent their
unravelling, — ' precisely,' as Mr. Thompson observes, 'like the
1 Pliu. xix. 1.
2 Woodcut No. 390.
Chap. IX. I WEAVING. —CALENDEUING. 175
silk shawls of the present day ; ' and specimens of the same
borders, in pieces of cloth found in the tombs, may be seen in
the British Museum and other collections.^
The sculptures, as well as the cloths which have been
discovered, perfectly bear out Herodotus in his statement that
they had the custom of leaving a fringe to their pieces of linen,^
which, when' the dresses were made up, formed a border round
the legs ; but they do not appear to have been universally worn.
This kind of dress he calls calasiris. When the fringe was
wanting, the border was hemmed, which had the same effect of
preventing the unravelling of the cloth. The Jews wore a
similar kind of fringed dress, and Moses commanded the
children of Israel to ' make them fringes in the borders of their
garments, . . . and . . . put upon the fringe of the borders a
riband of blue.' ^
Besides the process of making cloth, that of smoothing, or
calendering, is represented in the paintings : which appears to
have been done by means of wooden rods, passed to and fro over
the surface ; but from the appearance of some of the fine linen
found in the tombs, we may conjecture that much greater
pressure was sometimes used for this purpose, and such as could
only be applied b}^ a press, or cylinders of metal.
No. 391, . Fig. 1. Netting needle of wood, in INFr. Salt's Collection.
2. Part of another of bronze, of later date, found by me at Berenice.
3. Wooden plane for smoothing or pressing cloth. From Thebes.
For smoothing linen after washing, a wooden substitute for
what we call an iroii was used by the Egyptian washerwomen,
some of which have been found at Thebes, six inches in length,
made of atliul or tamarisk wood.'*
I have had occasion to observe that the Egyptians had
carpets, which, according to Diodorus,'^ were spread for the sacred
animals, and are noticed by Homer ^ as a very early invention ;
1 Woodcut No. 383,/*;. 4. Deut.xxii. 12. 5 Diodor. i. 34.
2 Hei-odot. ii. SI. 6 Horn. Od. A, 124, and called tapeta.
3 Numbers xv. 3S. the modern name of a carpet.
4 Woodcut No. 391,/(7. 3.
176
THE ANCIENT EGYPTIANS.
[Chap. IX.
they were of wool.' Init of their quality we are unable to form
any opinion, the fragments discovered in the tombs being very
imperfectly preserved. Some portions of woollen work have
been found at Thebes, which presented the appearance of a
carpet ; and a small rug was brought to England, and was in
the possession of Mr. Hay, whose valuable collection of drawings
from Thebes and other parts of Egypt I have already noticed.
This )'ug is eleven inches long by nine broad. It is made
like many carpets of the present day, with woollen threads on
linen string. In the centre is the figure of a boy in white, with
a goose above it, the hieroglyphic of 'child,' upon a green
ground; around which is a Ixtrder composed of red and blue
lines; the remainder is a ground of yellow, with four white
figures above and below, and one at each side, with blue ontlines
and red ornaments ; and the outer border is made up of red,
white, and blue lines, with a fancy device projecting from it, with
a triangular summit, which extends entirely round the edge of
the carpet. Its date is uncertain ; but from the child, the
combination of the colors, and the ornament of the border, I am
inclined to think it really Egyptian.'-^
I have also been informed by Lord Prudhoe, that in the
Turin Museum he met with •• some specimens
of worked worsted upon linen, in which the
linen threads of the weft had been picked
out, and the colored worsted sewed on the
warp.'
[The Egyptian thread was thin and fine,
and when ready for use was wound round
small cylindrical wheels grooved in the
centre. These reels were, made of wood,
porcelain, and other materials, but wood was
generally preferred for the purpose as lighter
and more useful. Sometimes these reels had
Wooden reel with threaii, in- hierooflvphic iuscrintious euffravcd upon
scribed with the name ® , . „ • i -vi
of Ai, royal scribe and them, aiid it appcars irom ouc lu the Muscum
divine father, probably '^ '^ p i •
the heretic king Ai, of the of Levdcu that tlic namcs 01 their i)ossessors
18th Dynasty. -^ -.i xi i.
No. 392. Leyden Museum, were mcu as wcli as womeii — either that
they were the property of their households, or else that they
actually used them.] — S, B.
1 As in Ilomcr, loc- cit.
'^ It is not of the rharaoniu, but of the Greek or Koiuan period. — S. B.
Chap. IX.] TWISTING THONGS OF LEATHER. 177
I have noticed the use of flax for making ropes, string, and
various kinds of twine ; for large ropes, however, of ordinary
quality, and for ordinary purposes, the leef^ or fibres of the date-
tree, were emploj^ed as at the present day ; and many specimens
of these durable materials have been found in the excavations
of Upper and Lower Egypt.
In a tomb at Thebes, of the time of Thothmes III., is
represented the process of twisting thongs of leather, which,
as it is probably the same as that adopted in rope-making, may
be properly introduced here.
The ends of four thongs were inserted and fastened into a
hollow tube, from the side of which a bar projected, surmounted
by a heavy metal ball ; and the man who twisted them held the
tube in his right hand, whirling it round, as he walked backwards,
by means of the impetus given by the ball. A band attached
to a ring at the other end of the tube went round his body, in
order to support it and give it a free action, and the ring turned
upon a swivel, to prevent the band itself from twisting.
At the other extremity of the walk, a man seated on the
ground, or on a low three-legged stool, let out the separate
thongs, and kept them from becoming entangled. Behind him
sat another, who, with the usual semi-circular knife, cut the skin
into strips as he turned it round ; showing that what we term
the circular cut was known to the ancient Egyptians at this
early period, and that they had already adopted this mode of
obtaining the longest thongs from a single piece of leather.^
When tinished, the twisted thongs were wound round a hollow
centre, through which the end was passed, and repeatedly bound
over the concentric coils in the same manner as ropes.
Some, indeed, have supposed the present subject to represent
rope-making ; but the presence of the skin on the left, and the
shoemakers on the right, forming a continuation of the jncture,
sufficiently prove that they are engaged in j^reparing leathern
thongs for sandals and other similar purposes.
Their nets were made of flax-string,^ both for fishing and
fowling: and portions of them have been discovered at Thebes,
and are preserved in our European museums. The netting
1 This calls to mind the fable of Dido's 2 Conf. Isaiah xix. 9 : ' They that
purchasing as much land in Africa as work in fine flax, and they that "weave
could be covered by a bull's hide, upon networks.' Pliu. xix. 1 ; and supra, p.
which she built Bvrsa, the origin of Car- 165.
thage. (Virgil, JEn. i. 368.)
VOL. n. 12
l:
THE ANCIENT EGYPTIANS.
[Chap. IX.
needles ^ were of wood, very like our own, split at each
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Sieves were often made of string; but some of an inferior
quality, and for coarse work, were constructed of small thin
rushes or reeds ^ (very similar to those used by the Egyptians for
1 Woodcut No. 391, Hgs. 1 and 2.
- [Pliny says, the" Egyptians made
sieves of the stalks of papyrus and rushes,
the Spaniards of string, and the Gauls of
horsehair (xviii. 11). — G. W.]
Chap. IX. ] PAPER , 179
writing, and frequently found in the tablets of the scribes) ; a
si3ecimen of which kind of sieve is preserved in the Paris
Museum. The paintings also represent them made of the same
materials ; and indeed it is probable that the first they used
were all of this humble quality, since the hieroglyphic indicating
a sieve is evidently borrowed from them.
The Egyptians were not less famed for their manufacture of
paper than for the delicate texture of their linen. The plant
from which it was made, the Cyperus papifru^ ^ of mcjdern
botanists, mostly grew in Lower Egypt, in marshy land, or in
shallow brooks 2 and ponds formed by the inundation of the
Nile, v/here they bestowed much pains on its cultivation.
The right of growing and selling it belonged, as I have
already observed, to the government, who made a great profit by
its monopolj^ ; and though we freqtiently find mention of the use
of the byblus or papyrus, for constructing canoes or rude punts,
for making baskets, parts of sandals, sails, and for numerous other
common purposes, it is evident that we are to understand, in
these instances, some other species of the numerous family of
Cijperufi. : which, too, is unequivocally shown by Strabo, when he
distinguishes the ordinary from ' the hieratic byblus.' ^
The papyrus, or • byblus hieraticus ' of the geographer, our
Cyperus papyrus^ was particularly cultivated in the Sebennytic
nome : ^ other parts of the Delta also produced it, and probably
even some districts in Upper Egypt. The paper made from it
differed in quality ; being dependent upon the growth of the
plant, and the part of the stalk whence it was taken ; and we
find many of the pa})yri which have been preserved vary greatly
m their texture and a})pearance. They are generally fragile
and difficult to unroll, until rendered pliant by gradual exposiu^e
to steam, or the damp of our climates ; and some are so brittle
that they appear to have been dried by artificial means.
We are, however, less surprised at the effect of the parched
climate of Upper Egypt, when we consider the length of time
they have been kept beyond the reach of moisture, and observe
that our drawing-paper, after a very few j^ears, becomes so dry
-1 Or the Cyperus antiqiiorum. the mod- '^ Isaiah xix. 7 ; ' The paper reeds by
ern Berd. Its ancieut name was pu apu, the brooks, by the mouth of the bi-ooks."
' the «/?«.' whence papyrus. The woi'd ^ 'phe papyrus was called by the Greeks
tufi appears to have been applied to papy- bublos, the Latin byblus.
rus. When made up or manufactured, it ^ piin. xiii. 11.
was called t ama. — S. B.
180 THE ANCIENT EGYPTIANS. (Chap. IX.
in that country that it is too brittle to fold without breaking.
Indeed, those papyri which have not been exposed to the same
heat, being preserved in the less arid climate of Lower Egypt,
still preserve their pliability ; and a remarkable proof of this is
shown in one brought by me from Memphis, which may be bent
and even twisted in any \ya3% without breaking, or without being
more injured than a piece of common paper. The hieroglyphics,
from their style, show it to be of an ancient Pharaonic age, and,
what is remarkable, they present the name of the city where the
papyrus was found, Menofre, or Memphis.
The mode of making papyri was tins : The interior of the
stalks of the plant, after the rind had been removed, was cut
into thin slices in the direction of their length, and these being
laid on a flat board in succession, similar slices were placed over
them at right angles ; ^ and their surfaces being cemented to-
gether by a sort of glue, and subjected to a proper degree of
pressure and well dried, the papyrus was completed. The
length of the slices depended of course on the breadth of the
intended sheet, as that of the sheet on the number of slices
placed in succession beside each other ; so that though the
breadth was limited, the papyrus might be extended to an
indefinite length.
The papyrus is now no longer used, paper from linen rags and
other materials having superseded it: but some '"'^w individuals,
following the example of the Cavaliere Saverio Landolina Nava,
of Syracuse, continue to make it ; and sheets from the plant,
which still grows in the small rivulet formed by the fountain of
Cyane near Syracuse, are offered to travellers as curious speci-
mens of an obsolete manufacture. I have seen some of these
small sheets of papyrus ; the manner of placin, ; the pieces is the
same as that practised in former times; but the quality of the
paper is very inferior to that of ancient Egypt, owing either to
the preparation of the slices of the stalk before they are glued
together, or to the coarser texture of the plant itself, certain
spots occurring here and there, throughout the surface, which are
never seen on those discovered in the Egyptian tombs.
Pliny thus describes ^ the plant and the mode of making
paper : ' The papyrus grows in the marsh-lands of Egypt, or in
1 The slices which wore placed Ioiilt- the others crossinjr them subtemen, like
ways were calleil by the Hoiiians stamen, the war|i and the woof iii cloth.
- Plin. xiii. 11.
€hap. IX.] PAPER. 181
the stagnant pools left inland by the Nile, after it has returned
to its bed, which have not more than two cubits in depth. The
root of the plant is the thickness of a man's arm ; it has a tri-
angular stalk, growing not higher than ten cubits (fifteen feet),
and decreasing in breadth towards the summit, which is prowned
as with a thyrsus, containing no seeds, and of no use except to
deck the statues of the gods. They employ the roots as fire-
wood, and for making various utensils. They even construct
small boats of the plant ; and out of the rind, sails, mats, clothes,
bedding, and ropes : they eat it either crude or cooked,^ swallow-
ing only the juice : and when they manufacture paper from it,
they divide the stem, by means of a kind of needle, into thin
plates or laminse, each of which it as large as the plant will
admit. . . .
'All the paper is woven upon a table, and is continually
moistened with Nile water, which, being thick and slimy, fur-
nishes an effectual species of glue.^ In the first place, they form
upon a table, perfectly horizontal, a layer the whole length of
the papyrus, which is crossed by another placed transversely,
and afterwards enclosed within a press. The different sheets are
then hung in a situation exposed to the sun in order to dry, and
the process is finally completed by joining them together, begin-
ning with the best. There are seldom more than twenty ^ slips,
or stripes, produced from one stem of the plant."*
' Different kinds of broad paper vary in breadth. The best
is thirteen digits broad ; the hieratic only eleven ; the Fannian ^
ten, and the amphitheatric nine. The Saitic is still narrower,
being only the breadth of the mallet ; and the paper used for
business is only six digits broad. Besides the breadth, the
fineness, thickness, whiteness, and smoothness are particularly
regarded ; . . . when it is coai'se, it is polished with a boar's
tooth, or a shell ; but then the writing is more readily effaced,
as it does not take the ink so well.'^
Pliny is greatly in error when he supposes that the papyrus
1 Diod. i. 80 culai- manner, so as to make one large
2 It is scarcely necessary to correct this slieet from a sino^le stem, like the mode in
misconception of Pliny, or to suo-i>est the which the so-called rice paper, the pith of
necessity of something more tenacious than the Aralia papyrifera, is produced by the
Nile water. Chinese.— S. B.
3 Some read vicinx, not viginti. -5 So called from Fannius, who had a
* On the examination of papyri, there manufactory at Rome for preparing paper.
appears to be some doubt how the miterial *' Plin. xiii. 12, where he makes other
was prepared, and it is possilile that it observations on the quality of paper,
may have been cut in a continuous cir-
182 THE ANCIEXT EGYPTIANS. [Chap. IX.
was not used for making paper before the time of Alexander the
Great, since we meet with })apyri of the most remote Pharaonic
periods ; and the same mode of writing on them is shown from
the sculptures to have been common in the age of Suphis, or
Cheops, .the l)uilder of the Great Pyramid, more than 2000 years
before our era. [The breadth of the pap3'rus varied at different
times, the oldest, that of the 5th Dynasty, being six inclies in
width; at the time of the 12th Dynasty it is the same, and in
the 18th generally about thirteen inches ; under the 19th line it
was nine and eleven inches ; and at the time of the 20tli as
broad as fourteen and a half inches. The demotic contracts
under the Ptolemies are about eleven inches, while the Greek
papyri of the Roman period are from twelve and a half to fourteen
inches wide. The color varies according to its antiquity, the
oldest papyrus being the darkest ; but some papyri are much
lighter, and of finer and more silky quality, even at a compara-
tively early period. At the time of the 26th Djniasty some
papyri are of a remarkably white color. — S. B.]
It is uncertain until what period paper made of the papyrus
continued in general use ; but there is evidence of its having"
been occasionally employed to the end of the seventh century,
when it was susperseded by parchment. All public documents,
under Charlemagne and his dynasty, were written on this last,
and the papyrus was then entirely given up.^
Parchment, indeed, had been invented long before, and was
used for writing, as early as the year 2.50 before our era, by
Eumenes, king of Pergamus, who being desirous of collecting a
library which should vie with that of Alexandria, and being-
prevented by the jealousy of the Ptolemies from obtaining a
sufficient quantity of papyrus, had recourse to this substitute,
and its invention at Pergamus claimed, and secured to it, the
lasting name of Pergamena.'-^ It was made of the skins of sheep
and calves ; but to the former the name of parchment is more
correctly applied, as to the latter that of vellum.-^
1 The Bull ofPopc John VIII., A. D. 876, Cheops of the 4th, and Apappus of the
makes its use as late as the ninth century, oth Dynasty, bein<r mentioned in some
and it was used in Italy till the twelfth; papyri^ and entirely copied on others. ,\n
the last dated document in it hein^- tlie exceptional ritual in the British Museum
Bull of Pope Paschal II. about a.d. 1100. (Salt, 2r)()) is of white heather, a kind of
— S. B. vellum or parchment, and is many ccntu-
2 Called also membrana by the Romans. ries oliler than the reign of Eumenes. —
It appears from the inscriptions that leather S. B.
came into use long before papyrus ; docu- 3 From vellus, ' a skin," or vitulinum,
meuts written upon it in the time of 'of calf."
Chap. IX.] OTHER WRITING MATERIALS. 183
The monopoly of the papyrus in Egypt so increased the price
of the commodity that persons in humble life could not afford
to purchase it for ordinary purposes ; few documents,^ therefore,
are met with written on papyrus, except funeral rituals, the sales
of estates, and official papers, which were absolutely required ;
and so valuable was it that they frequently obliterated the old
writinsT, and inscribed another document on the same sheet.
For common purposes, pieces of broken pottery, stone, board,
and leather were used ; an order to visit some monument, a
soldier's leave of absence, accounts, and various memoranda,
were often written on the fragments of an earthenware vase ; an
artist sketched a picture, which he was about to introduce in a
temple or a sepulchre, on a large flat slab of limestone, or on a
wooden panel j)repared with a thin coating of stucco ; and even
parts of funeral rituals were inscribed on square pieces of stone,
on stuccoed cloth, or on leather. Sometimes leather rolls were
substituted for papyri, and buried in the same manner with the
deceased; .they are of an early period, and probably adopted in
consequence of the high price of the papyrus; but few have
hitherto been found at Thebes.
In the infancy of society various materials were employed for
writing, as stones, bricks, tiles, plates of bronze, lead and other
metals, wooden tablets,^ the leaves and bark of trees, and the
shoulder-bones of animals. Wooden tablets covered with wax
were long in use among the Romans, as well as the papyrus ; ^
and the inner bark of trees,'^ and pieces of linen,^ had been pre-
viously adopted by them.
Many Eastern people still write on the leaves of trees, or on
wooden tablets, and waraka continues to signify, in Arabic, both
'a leaf and 'paper.'-
The early Arabs committed their poetry and compositions
to the slioulder-bones of sheep ; they afterwards obtained the
1 Papyrus appears to have been used of receivinfr ink, were used by the E<:vp-
for all official, civil, and legal purposes; tians lonp; after they had papyri, and thev
but as most of the papyri found are those are still common in schools at Cairo in lieu
made for the mummies, they are, of course, of our slates. One is represented in wood-
funeral. There are, however, several pa- cut No. 109, /?>. 1.
pyri with miscellaneous subjects, while the 3 Whence the word ' paper,' as in ky-
niimber of inscriptions on slices of calca- blus, or biblus, originated the name bible
reous stone and potterv, to which the or book.
Greek term o«/m^a has been conventionally ^ Called liber, whence the Latin name
applied, is comparatively small. — S. B. liber, ' a book.'
- These wooden tablets, which are ^ Ljv. iv. 7, \iii. 20: ' Linteis libris,'
covered with a glazed composition capable about the year 440 b.c.
184 THE AXCIEXT EGYPTIANS. [Chap. IX.
papyrus paper from Egypt, on which the poems called Moallaqdt
were written in gold letters ; and after their conquests in Asia
and Africa, tliese people so speedily profited by and improved
the inventions of the nations they had subdued, that parchment
was manufactured in Syria, Arabia, and Eg^-pt, which in color
and delicacy might vie with our modern paper. It speedily
superseded the use of the papyrus, and continued to be employed
until the discovery of the method of making paper from cotton
and silk, called Carta homhycma^ which is proved by Montfaucon
to have been known at least as early as A.D. 1100, and is sup-
posed to have been invented about the beginning of the ninth
century. Being introduced into Spain from S3'ria, it was denom-
inated Carta damascena ; and some manuscripts on cotton
paper are said to exist in the Escurial, written in the eleventh
century.
It is a matter of doubt to what nation and period the in-
vention of paper manufactured from linen ought to be ascribed.
The Chinese were acquainted with the secret of making it from
various vegetable substances long before it was kno vvn in Europe ; ^
the perfection to which they have carried this branch of art
continues to excite our admiration ; and 'the librarian Casiri re-
lates,' according to Gibbon, 'from credible testimony, that paper
was first imported from China to Samarcand A.H.SO^ (a.d. 652),
and invented., or rather introduced, at Mecca, A. H. 88 (a.d. 710).' ^
It may, however, be questioned whether it was made from
linen at that early period, and we have no positive proof of linen
paper being known, even by the Saracens, prior, to the eleventh
century. The Moors, as might be expected, soon introduced it
into Spain, and the Escurial library is said to contain manuscripts
written on this kind of })aper as old as the twelfth century.*
But paper of mixed cotton and linen, which was made at the
same time, appears to have been in more general use ; and linen
paper continued to be rare in most European countries till the
fifteenth century. That it was known in fierman}^ as early as
the year 1312 lias been satisfactorily ascertained by existing
documents ; and a letter on linen paper, written from Germany
to Hugh Despencer about the year 1315, is preserved in the
1 A.D. 95. — S. B. 4 Rome doubt the existence of any M.S.
2 Some I'aise it to A.D. 704, but no Arabic on linen paper before tlie year 1270; but
paper manuscript older than a.d. 950 is an Arabic version of the Aphorisms of
known. — S.B. Hippocrates, in the Escurial, dates from
'- Gibbon, vol. ix. c. 51, p. 379. the bej^iuuing of the thirteenth century.
Chap. IX. ] LEATBER. 185
Chapter-house at Westminster ; which, even to the water-mark,
resembles that made at the present day.
It was not till the close of the sixteenth century that jDaper
was manufactured in England. The first was merely of a coarse
brown quality, very similar to that of the modern Arabs, whose
skill in this, as in many arts and sciences, has been transferred
to people once scarcely known to them, and then greatly their
inferiors; and writing or printing paper was not made in London
before 1690 ; ^ France and Holland having, till that time, sup-
plied us with an annual importation to the amount of nearly
100,000 pounds.
The tanning and preparation of leather was also a branch of
art in which the Egyptians evinced considerable skill ; the
leather-cutters, as I have already observed, constituted one of
the principal subdivisions of the third caste ; and a district of
the city was exclusively appropriated to them in the Libyan part
of Thebes.
Leather is little capable of resisting the action of damp, the
salts of the earth, or excessive dryness, so that we cannot reason-
ably expect to find it sufficiently well preserved to enable us to
judge of its quality ; but the fineness of that employed for
making the straps placed across the bodies of mummies discov-
ered at Thebes, and the beauty of the figures stamped upon
them,2 satisfactorily prove the skill of ' the leather-cutters ' and
the antiquity of embossing ; some of these bearing the names
of kings who ruled Egypt about the period of the Exodus, or
3300 years ago.
Many of the occupations of their trade are portrayed on the
painted walls of the tombs at Thebes. They made shoes, san-
dals, the coverings and seats of chairs or sofas, bow-cases, and
most of the ornamental furniture of the chariot : harps were also
adorned with colored leather, and shields and numerous other
things were covered with skin prepared in various ways. They
also made skins for carrying water, wine, and other liquids ; and
1 [But Queen Elizabeth is said to have Shakespeare is not quite an authority la-
knig'hted Spehiian for having set up the this, or the papcr-uiill. — G. W.]
first paper-mill in England; and Shake- 2 These are the stamped ends of the
speare makes Jack Cade say to Lord Say cross-straps of the mummies of the time
(1450), 'Whereas before our forefathers of 'the 20th Dynasty, the oldest known
had no other book l)ut the score and the being that of Rnmcses XIII. (Osbuni,
tally, thou hast caused printing to be used, mummy at Leeds, pi. 2.) Tliese em-
and contrary to the king, his crown and bossed Iwnds continued in use during the
dignity, thou hast built a paper-mill;' but subsequent dynasties, or till about 525 B.C.
and after that were disused. — S. B.
186 THE ANCIENT EGYrTIANS. [Chap. IX.
the custom of coating them within with a resinous substance ^
was the origin, as I have already observed, of that acquired
taste, which led the Egyptians to imitate the flavor it imparted
to wine, even in their earthen amphorae.
Part of the process of curing the skins is introduced in the
sculptures ; and that of dyeing them is mentioned in the Bible,^
being doubtless borrowed by the Jews from Egypt. In one
instance a man is represented dipping the hide ^ into a vase,
probably containing water, in which it was suffered to soak, pre-
paratory to the lime being applied to remove the hair — a process
very similar to that adopted at the present day in Egypt and
other countries. The Arabs prefer the acrid juice of a plant
growing in the desert for the purpose, as its effect is still more
rapid, and as it has the advantage of making the skin better
and more durable.
This plant is the Periploca secamone ; its stalks contain a
white milky juice, which exudes from it when bruised, and which
is so acrid as to be highly injurious to the eye or to the wounded
skin. It supports itself by winding around every neighboring
slirub, and its not ungraceful stalks appear to have been occa-
sionally used by the ancient Egyptians for the same ornamental
purpose as the ivy, in forming festoons. But there is no evidence
of its having been employed by them in curing skins, though
they seem to have been well acquainted with the pro})erties of
the plants which grew in the deserts, as well as in the valley of
the Nile ; and however we might be inclined to suppose tliat, in
the sculptures of Thebes representing the occupations of curriers,
they are pounding something of the kind for this purpose, the
absence of every indication of the contents of the v;use or
mortar leaves it undecided if it be the periploca, or lime, salt,
or other substance.
According to the Arabs, the method of preparing skins vr\t\i
the periploca, or Ghulga, is as follows : ' The skins are first put
into flour and salt for three "days, and are cleansed of all the tat
and the impurities of the inside. Tlie stalks of the plant being
pounded between large stones, are then put into water, applied
1 Also scabbards of swords. A leather workmen for holding tools or instriimeats
cap, No. 2564, and apron, No. 2567, are in — S. B. , , ■ , i
the collections of the British Museum. ••; Expd. xxv. 5 : 'And rams skins dyed
Papyri containing documents or letters red.' , ^ , ,
were sometimes transmitted in leather » The Egyptian word for leather is
cases, and bags of leather were used by tehar : the hide or unprepared skin was
called anem. — S. B.
€hap. IX.] LEATHER. 187
to the inner side of the skin for one day ; and the hair having
fallen off, the skin is left to dry for two or three days, and the
process is completed.'
The mode of stretching or bending leather over a form is
frequently represented at Thebes ; and it is curious to observe
that the semicircular knife,^ used by the ancient Egyptians
between 3,000 and 4,000 years ago, is precisely similar to that
of our modern curriers.
As in other trades, the tools they employed were neither
numerous nor complex, and their means might sometimes ap-
pear inadequate, did we not see the beautiful work performed
at the present day in China, India,* and other countries, where
the implements are equally simple. The semicircular knife, a
sort of chisel, the common awl (specimens of which have been
No. 394. Currier holding a strap of leather with his toes, while cutting it. Thebes.
b b are straps tied up, aud deposited in the shop.
found at Thebes, similar to our own), a stone for polishing the
leather, the cutting table, the bending form, the horn, and a few
other utensils, were all that occurred in the shop of the shoe-
maker or the currier ; and a prepared skin, the emblem of their
trade, was suspended together with ready-made shoes and other
articles, to indicate their skill, and to invite a customer.
The shops of an Egyptian town were probably similar to
those of Cairo,^ and other Eastern cities ; which consist of a
square room, open in front, with falling or sliding shutters, to
close it at night ; and the goods, ranged in shelves or suspended
against the walls, are exposed to the view of those who pass.
In front is generally a raised seat, where the owner of the shop
and his customers sit, during the long process of concluding a
1 Woodcut No. 65, .y?^. c. It is the same - Lane, ' ^fodeni Egyptians,' vol. ii. pp.
^s the Greek arbelon. 9 and 10, woodcuts.
188
THE ANCIEXT EGYPTIANS.
[Chap. IX.
bargain, previous to the sale and purchase of the smallest arti-
cle ; and here an idle lounger frequently passes whole hours,
less intent on l)enetiting the shopkeeper, than in amusing, him-
self with the bus}' scene of the passing crowd.
Among the many curious customs introduced in the paint-
ings and still retained in the East, is that of holding a strap of
leather or other substance with the toes, which from their being
ahvays free, and unencumbered with tight shoes, retain their full
power and pliability; and the singular, I may say primitive, mode
Parti
Xo. 395.
4 5
Part 1. Sandal-makers.
2. Men employed in polishing a column
Fig. 1, making a hole with an awl.
2, tightening a thong with his teeth.
Thehes,
h b, sandals lianging up in the shop.
c to /, various tools.
of tightening a thong with the teetli, while sewing a shoe, is
also portrayed in the paintings of the time of the third Thothmes.
It is probable that, as at the present day, they ate in the
open front of their shops, exposed to the view of ever}^ one who
passed ; and to this custom Herodotus may allude, when he
says, ' the Egyptians eat in the street.' ^
Tn Eastern towns, no regal arms or gilded inscri])tion proclaim
the patronage ^ of ' his Majesty,' and no picture or description
1 Ileroilot. ii. 3."). if all the shops liavinj: royal arms have
2 A Turk in London once observed, been successively tried hy him ! '
' How very changeable your king must be,
Chap. IX.] SHOPS. 189
affixed to the shop announces the trade of the owner ; being
thought sufficienth" shown by the goods exposed for sale : but
this does not prevent tlie inconsistency, perhaps profanation, of
attaching a religious sentence, or the name of the Deity, to walls
which hourly witness an attempt to defraud the inexperienced
customer. Nor is there any direct eyidence that the ancient
Egyptians affixed the name and trade of the owner of the shop,
though the presence of hieroglyphics, denoting this last, together
with the emblem which indicated it, may seem to argue in fayor
of the custom ; and the absence of many individuals" names
in the sculptures is readily accounted for by the fact that these
scenes refer to the occupation of the whole trade, and not to any
particular person.
Of all people, we may suppose Egyptian shopkeepers most
likely to display the patronage received from ro^^alt}' ; the name
of a monarch being so often introduced in the most conspicuous
manner on the coffins of private individuals, and in the paintings
of the tombs , many of the scarabsei they wore presenting the
name of a king, and the most ordinary devices being formed to
resemble a royal oval. But whether or not they had this custom,
or that of affixing the name and occupation of the tradesman, it
is difficult to determine ; and indeed in those cities where certain
districts were set apart for particular trades, the latter distinction
was evidently uncalled for and superfluous.
The great consumption of leather in Egypt, and the various
purposes to which skins,^ both in the tanned and raw state, were
applied, created a demand far greater than could be satisfied by
the produce of the country : they, therefore, imported skins from
foreign countries, and part of the tribute levied on the conquered
tribes of Asia and Africa consisted of hides and the skins of wild
animals, as the leopard, fox, and others ; which are frequently
represented in the paintings of Thebes, laid before the throne of
the Egj'ptian monarch, together with gold, silver, ivory, rare
woods, and the various productions " of each vanquished country.
1 Skins were considered of frreat value Athenseus, lib. v., where he mentions the
by many ancient people : the rewards in presents brougrht to Ptolemy Philadelphus.
the games at Chemmis in Upper Egypt [The name of the peacock in Hebrew is
were skins, cattle, and cloaks, and we find tokiim, from toliii, a peacock, in the Tamil
thcisanie custom amongthe Gi'eeks. (Hom. language of South India, whence they
II. X, 159; Herodot. ii. 91.) came. Apes, kofm, is also in Tamil kap ;
2 Some of tliese tributes put us in mind but it is in Egyptian toij, and kaf is the
of the objects which came iu Solomon's long-tailed monkey of Ethiopia The Tamil
ships : ' gold, and silver, ivory, and apes. was the language of Soutli India before
and peacocks' (1 Kings x. 22). See also the Hindoo race inhabited it, as in the
190
THE ANXIENT EGYPTIANS.
ICllAl'. IX.
For tanning they used the pods of the Soiit, or Acacia {Acacia
or Mimosa nilotica~), the acanthus of Strabo and other writers,
which was cultivated in many parts of Egypt, being also prized
for its timber and gum ; and it is probable that the bark and
wood of the Rims oxyacanthoides, a native of the desert, were
employed for the same purpose.^
Many persons, both men and women, were engaged in clean-
ing cloth and stuffs of various kinds ; and the occupations of the
No. 306. Fullers. BenUHassan.
a, b, inclined tables, c, c, the water ruiaiing off into the trough below
fuller form some of the numerous subjects of the sculptures. It
is, however, probable that they were only a subdivision of the
dyers, whose skill in coloring cloth I have alreadj' noticed.
A far more numerous class were the potters ; and all the pro-
cesses of mixing the clay, and of turning, baking, and polishing
the vases, are represented in the tombs of Thebes and Beni-
Hassan.
They frequently kneaded the clay with their feet; and after it
had been properly worked up, they formed it into a mass of con-
venient size with the hand, and placed it on the wheel,- which, to
judge from that represented in the paintings, was of ver}' simple
construction, and turned with the hand. The various forms of
the vases were made out bv the linger during their revolution:
time of Solomon :ind before his day; and
tlie aborijiinal tribe who speak it is there
still. — G. W.]
The Ejryptian name of the monkey was
tjfif, and is the same as the Greek kehos,
and lias been supposed to be derived from
the Sanscrit; but the Effvptian word ap-
pears in the tombs at the time of Cheops of
the 4th Dynasty, over the animal, and
shows that it is much older than the San-
scrit form. Apes were called /je?i, and the
Cynocephalus adni. Both came as tribute
from Kush, or Ethiopia, and Punt, or
Somali. — S. B.
' The .\rabs also use the bark of the
Acacia xai/al for taiininfr; it "^rows iu the
desert, but not in the valley of tiie Xile.
- Sonic supposed the potter's wheel to
have been invented by Anacharsis, but, as
Strabo observes, it was already known to
Homer. (Strabo, vii. p. 209. Seneca,
Epist, 90. Phn. vii. 56.)
Chap. IX.] POTTERY. 191
the handles, if they had any, were afterwards affixed to them;
and the devices and other ornamental parts were traced with a
wooden or metal instrument, previous to their being baked.
They were then suffered to dry, and for this purpose were
placed on i^lanks of wood ; they were afterwards arranged with
■o'reat care in trays, and carried by means of the usual 3'oke,
borne on men's shoulders, to the oven.
Many of the vases, bottles, and pans of ordinary quality
were very similar to those made in EgyjDt at the ])resent day,
as we learn from the representations in the paintings, and from
those found in the tombs, or in the ruins of old towns ; and
judging from the number of Coptic words applied to the differ-
ent kinds, their names were as varied as their forms. Coptos
and its vicinity were always noted for this manufacture ; the
clays found there were peculiarly suited for porous vases lo
cool water ; and their qualities are fully manifested, at the
present day, in the goolle.li ^ or hardak bottles of Qeneh.
That the forms of the modern goollehs are borrowed from
those of an ancient time is evident, from the fragments found
amidst the mounds, which mark the sites of ancient towns and
villages, as well as from the many preserved entire ; and a local
tradition affirms that the modern manufacture is borrowed from,
and has succeeded without interruption to, that of former days.^
It is impossible to fix the period of the invention of the
potter's wheel ; and the assertion of Pliny, who attributes it to
Coroebus the Athenian,^ is not only disproved b}' probability,
but by the positive fact that it was known at the earliest epoch
of Egyptian history, of which the sculptures have been pre-
served, previous to the arrival of Joseph, and consequently long
before the foundation of Athens.
But Pliny's chapter of inventions abounds with errors of this
kind, and serves to show how commonly the Greeks adopted the
discoveries of other nations, particularly of Egypt and Phoenicia,
and claimed them as their own : even the art of cuttino- stones
1 This is the old Egyptian word qarreh, hand-made vases abound in the debris o{
A P =, the toiahs of the Pyramids of Saqqarah,
C^^ 5 "C/ foi' pottery, handed down to of the age of the othDy nasty, and numer-
"^ — ^ A oils terra-cotta vases of red earthenware
the present day. arc given by Lepsius, Denkm. Abth. ii. Bl.
• Vessels of pottery are mentioned in a 163. They" are of the age of the 4th av-
toni) close to the pyramid of Meidoum, 5th Dynasties. — S. B.
supposed to be as old as the 2d Dynasty. 3 Plin. vii. 56.
(Mariette, ' Monum, divers,' pi. 12.) Small
192
THE ANXTENT E(.iYPTIAXS.
[Chap. IX.
is attributed to Cadmus of Thebes ; and Thales of Miletus was
said to have enlightened the Egyptians, under whom he had
long been stud^ying,! by teaching them to measure the altitude
1 The Greeks went to study in Egypt, a* modern artists in Italy.
Chap. IX. ] POTTERY. 193
of a pyramid, or other body, by its shadow,^ at the late period of
600 B.C. Though we may pardon, we must smile at, tlie vanity
of the Greeks, who pretended to the merit of pointing out to
their instructors a discovery ^ of which men so skilful in
astronomy and mathematics could not have been ignorant; but
we must express our surprise at the simplicity of modern wri-
ters who believe and repeat so improbable a story.
The Egyptians displayed much taste in their gold, silver,
porcelain, and glass vases ; but when made of earthenware for
ordinary purposes they were sometimes devoid of elegance, and
scarcely superior to those of England before the classic taste of
Wedgwood substituted the graceful forms of Greek models for
the unseemly productions of our old potteries. Though the
clay of Upper Egypt was particularl}^ suited to porous bottles, it
could not be obtained of a sufficiently fine quality for the manu-
facture of vases like those of Greece and Italy ; in Egypt, too,
good taste did not extend to all classes as in Greece ; and vases
used for fetching water from a well, or from the Nile, were fre-
quently of a very ordinary kind, far inferior to those carried
by the Athenian women to the fountain of Kallirrhoe.
The Greeks, it is true, were indebted to Egypt for much
useful knowledge, and for many early hints in art, but they
speedily surpassed their instructors in taste, and improved on
the information they had acquired ; and in nothing, perhaps,
is this more strikingly manifested than in the productions of
the potter.
[Earthenware was extensively used in Egypt for many purposes,
and atforded ample employment to the potter ; for domestic uses
the chief ones being the amphorte of unglazed or polished ware
for holding wine, oils, and other liquids, water vases, jugs for
pouring out liquids, bottles, and jars, generally of small size,
for holding various edible and other substances. These were
sometimes inscribed with the name of their contents, and the
mouth secured by a clay stopper, fastened by a linen bandage.
Saucers, or pateme, a kind of plate, were also made, as also various
small phials, or unguentaria. Some of these vases were often
painted with colors in tempera, covered with a glaze, the chief
designs being bands around the body, or vandyked or checkered
1 Plin. xxxvi. 12: 'When the shadow foreijrn names from theu- own lanjruage,
was equal to its height,' at an angle of as Isis from thv. Greek word signifying
45°. 'knowledge' (Plut. de Isid. s. 2); "and
2 On a par witli this is their deriving many others.
VOL. II. , 13
194 I'HE ANCIENT EGYTTIAXS. |Ciiap. IX.
patterns at the neck, occasionally with representations of collars
and other simple ornaments, but never with elaborate designs.
At a later [)eriod some of the bottles have on tlieui a re])resenta-
tion of the god Bes or Bessa. It is of course impossible to define
all the uses to which those small vases of unglazed earthenware
were applied; but all trades used the larger for manufactures:
jar-shaped vases held varif)us liquids, tall jugs wine or Nile water ;
oil and drugs were kept in jars, other cosmetics in jugs with
spouts ; wine, honey, and milk were often kept in wide-mouthed
vessels resembling the Roman ollce. The clay varies according to
the place and period ; and the best vessels made by the potter
are those of the color of sealing-wax, polished and lucent, some
of whic-h are of very elegant shape, and modelled in the human
shape or that of animals. But the finest of all the products of
the Egyptian potter were tlie vases, covered with a vitreous glaze,
produced for the toilet, of a blue, green, or other colors, con-
sisting of small vases with inscriptions and figures, and of
different shapes,^ hemispherical bov/ls or paterae, lotus-shai)ed
goblets, drop-shaped vases, others of the type for holding stibium,
the flasks of the age of the 26th Dynasty, and a few moulded in
the shape of goats, hedge-hogs, and other animals. These are the
porcelain of Egypt, and the beautiful blue of the best age is
unrivalled at the present day. Besides objects for domestic use
the potter made tiles, mouldings, and other pieces for inlaying,
for architecture, and sepulchral purposes, and largely supplied
the undertaker with rings, beads, and bugles, for the decoration
of the mummies, and made sepulchral jars and sepulchral figures
in large numbers for the sepulchres.^ — S. B.]
Carpenters and cabinet-makers were a very numerous class of
workmen ; and their occupations generally form one of the most
im})ortant subjects in the paintings which represent the Egyptian
trades. Egypt produced little wood ; and, v/ith the exception of
the date and dom palms, the sycamore, tamarisk, and acacias, few
trees of native growth afforded timber either for building or for
ornamental purposes. The principal uses of the date and dom
trees I have already mentioned. For coffins, boxes, tables, doors,
and other ol^jjects wliich required large and thick planks, for idols
and wooden statues, the sycamore was principally employed ; and
from the great quantity discovered in the tombs alone, it is
i The various shapes will be found iu '- Birch, ' Ancient Pottery, 8vo., Lend.,
Kosellini, ' Monum. Civili,' tav. 1. and foil. 1873, p. 15 and foil.
Chap. IX.] CABIXET-MAKIXG. 195
evident that the tree was cultivated to a great extent. It had
the additional recommendation of bearing a fruit to which
the Egyptians were very partial; and a religious prejudice
claimed for it and the Persea the name and rank of sacred
iVuit trees.
The tamarisk was preferred for the handles of tools, wooden
hoes, and other things requiring a hard and compact wood ; and
of the acacia were made the planks and masts of boats, the
handles of offensive weapons of war, and various articles of furni-
ture. Large groves of this tree were cultivated in many parts of
Egypt, especially in the vicinity of Memphis and Abydus, where
the}' still exist ; and besides its timber, the acacia was highly
valued for the jiods it produced, so useful for tanning, and for
the gum which exudes from the trunk and branches, now known
under the name of gum arable.^ This tree is not less prized by
the modern Egyptians, who have retained its name as well as its
ijses ; sont being applied to this species of acacia, both in Arabic
and the ancient Egyptian language.
Besides tlie Sont, or Acacia (^Mlmosa^ Nilotica, the Sellem,
Sunn\ TulU, Fitneh, Lehhekh, and other acacias, which grew in
Egypt, were also adapted to various purposes; and some instances
are met witli of the wood of the Eqlceq, or Balanites ^'Egyptiaca,
and of different desert trees, having been used by the Egyptian
carpenters. For ornamental purposes, and sometimes even for
coffins, doors, and boxes, foreign woods were employed ; deal and
cedar were imported from Syria ; and part of the contributions
exacted from the conquered tribes of Ethiopia and Asia consisted
in ebony and other rare woods, which were annually brought by
the chiefs deputed to present their country's tribute to the
Eg3'ptian monarchs.
Boxes, chairs, tables, sofas, and other pieces of furniture were
frequently made of ebony, inlaid with ivory ; sycamore and acacia
were veneered with thin layers, or ornamented with carved
devices, of rare wood, applied or let into them : and a fondness
for this display suggested to the Egyptians the art of painting-
common boards to imitate foreign varieties, so generally adopted
at the present day. The colors were usually applied on a thin
coating of stucco, laid smoothly upon the previously prepared
wood, and the various knots and grains painted upon this
1 Other acacias proauce this gum. The Tulh has, par excellence, the specific title of
(/ummifera.
196 THE AXCIEXT EGYPTIANS. [Cuap. IX.
ground indicated the (juality of the wood they intended to
counterfeit.
The usual tools ^ of the carpenter were the axe, adze, liand-
saw, chisels of various kinds (which were struck with a wooden
mallet), the drill, and two sorts of planes (one resembling a
chisel,'-^ the other apparently of stone, axiting as a rasp on the
surface of the wood, which was afterwards polished by a smootli
body, probably also of stone ^); and these, with the ruler,^ j)lum-
met, and right angle,^ a leather bag containing nails, the hone,
and horn of oil, constituted the principal, and perhaps the only,
implements he used. Some of the furniture of their rooms, the
work of the cabinet-maker, I have already noticed,^ and have
observed the perfection to which they had arrived in the con-
struction of the chairs and ottomans of their saloons ; nor can I
omit the mention of the art of dovetailing already practised in
the earliest Pharaonic ages, or the mode of applj'ing two [)lanks
together in the same plane by means of broad pins or tongues
of hard wood. Of the former numerous instances occur, both
in large and small objects, and no illustration of it is required ;
the latter is peculiar, and shows the great care taken to make
everything durable, which characterizes all the works of the
Egyptians.
When two boards are joined together liy our modern carpen-
ters, they insert small round pins horizontally into corresponding-
parts of the edges, and then appl}^ them together, so as to form
as it were a single piece , but the Egyptian carpenter was not
content with this precaution, and, having used flat pins for this
purpose about two inches in ))readth, he secured these again,
after the boards had been applied to each other, by round pins or
wooden nails, driven vertically through the boards, into each of
the flat pins ; and thus the possibility of the joint opening was
effectually prevented, even should the glue, which was added, as
in our modern boxes, fail to hold them. After the wood had been
reduced to a p]'o})er size by the saw, the adze " was the princijtal
1 Woodcut No. 172. whioh the Egyptians had not invented.
2 Wooikut No. 108, _^;/. 3. Each adze (nu, or seff) or tool had its
3 Woodcut No. 108, Jij. 2. name, and on the tablet in the Ivcyden
* Woodcut No. 398, e. Museum a list of acizes and their names
5 Woodcut No. 393, part 2, v; and No. (as, ' Anup, or Anuhis, is its name') is
398,/. u-iven. ('Zeitschrift f. iijivptisch. Spr. u.
s At the heginnin<j of chapter vi. Alterth.,* 1873, s. 152.) DitFerent kinds of
" The adze answered in Ejrypt all the adzes were eniploj'ed, accordiiivr to tlic re-
purposes of the modern plane, a tool quircments; one heiug adopted for trim-
Chap. IX.] CARPEXTEKS' TOOLS. 197
tool em})loyed for fashioning it; and from the precision with
which even the smallest objects are Avorked with it at the present
day by the unskilful carpenters of modern EgyjDt, we may form
some idea of its use in the hands of their expert predecessors;
and we are less surprised to meet with it so frequently repre-
sented in the sculptures.^
Many of them, together with saws and chisels, have been
found at Thebes : the blades are all of bronze, the handles of the
acacia or the tamarisk ; and, which is very singular, the general
mode of fastening the blade to the handle appears to have been
by thongs of hide. It is probable that some of those discovered
in the tombs ai'e only models, or unfinished specimens, ^ and it
may have been thought sufficient to show their external appear-
ance, without the necessity of nailing them beneath the thongs;-'^
for those which they used were bound in the same manner, though
I believe them to have been also secured with nails. Some, how-
ever, evidently belonged to the individuals in whose tombs they
were buried, and, like the chisels, appear to have been used ; for
these last often bear sio-ns of havino- been beaten witli the
hammer or mallet.
The drill is frequently exhibited in the sculptures. Like all
the other tools, it was of the earliest date, and precisely similar
to that of modern Egypt, even to the nut of the dom in wliieh
it turned, and the form of its bow with a leathern thong.* The
chisel was employed for the same purposes,'^ and in the same
manner, as at the present day, and was struck with a wooden
mallet, sometimes flat at the two ends, sometimes of circular
or oval form ; several of wdiich last have been found at Thebes,
and are preserved in our European museums. The handles of
the chisels were of acacia, tamarisk, or other compact wood ; the
ming wood, another by boat-builders, and inf( ' stretched the cord,' equivalent to
a third by how and arrow makers. (Chabas, the modern laying of the foundation, of
'Etudes sur TAntiquite historique,' p. 7-1.) the jiate, or part of the building of the
Some of tlie adzes had wooden handles, temple of Karnak, called Amen-tsar, has
and others iron blades.— S.B. been found at Thebes. The blades were
1 The ancient names were bes, the saw; thinner and lighter than those in actual use.
me»)^a, mallet, or hammer, some of the (Chal)as, ' Etudes,' pp. 76, 79.) — S. B.
latter being used by the Egyptians ; sheneb, 3 it is probable that the stone and
a chisel; tefa, a hand-saw; ant, a kind of bronze celts found in Britain were fastened
knife or adze; mi, an adze; set/, anolhev to their handles in the same manner,
kind of same ; sect, a brush; iieter oft, a \Voodcut No. 398, c ; and Xo. 393, u,
square. ('Zeitschrift f. agvptisch. Sp'r. u. part 2.
Alterth.,' 1873, s. 152.)— S.' B. -i Woodcut No. 393, part 2.
- A set of tools used as models and s Various chisels are given in Chabas,
recording the fact of Thothmes HI., hav- ' Etudes,' p. 78.
198 THE ANCIENT EGYPTIANS. [Chap. IX.
blades of bronze ; and the form of the points varied in breadth,
according to the work for which they were intended.
The hatcliet was principally used by boat-builders, and those
who made large pieces of framework ; and trees were felled
with the same instrument.
The mode of sawing timber was primitive and imperfect,
owing to their not having adopted the double saw ; and they were
obliged to cut every piece of wood, however large, single-handed.
In order, therefore, to divide a beam into planks, the}^ placed
it, if not of very great length, upright between two posts, firmly
fixed in the ground, and being lashed to them with cords, or
secured with pins, it was held as in a vice.
Among the many occupations of a carpenter, that of veneer-
ing is noticed in the sculptures of Thebes, as early as the time
of the third Thothmes, whom I suppose to be the Pharaoh of
the Exodus ; and the application of a piece of rare wood of a red
color to a yellow plank of sycamore or other ordinary kind, is
clearly pointed out.^ And in order to show that the yellow wood
is of inferior quality, the workman is represented to have fixed
his adze carelessly in a block of the same color, while engagetl
in applying them together. Near him are some of his tools,
with a box or small chest, made of inlaid and veneered wood of
various hues; and in the same part of the shop are two other
men, one of whom is employed in grinding something with a
stone on a slab, and the other m spreading glue with a brush.
It might, perhaps, be conjectured that varnish was intended
to be here represented ; but the appearance of the pot on the
fire, the piece of glue with its concave fracture, and the workman
before mentioned applying the two pieces of wood together, satis-
factorily decide the question, and attest the invention of glue^
3300 years ago. This is not, however, the only proof of its use
at an early period, and several wooden boxes have been found
in which glue was employed to fasten the joints.
Various boxes, shiines, articles of furniture, and other works
of the cabinet-maker, are frequently portrayed in the paintings
of Thebes, many of which present not inelegant forms, and are
i Woodcut No. 398, a. appear to strcnufthcn his conjecture. He
~ Rosellini seems to think that the appli- has placed this subject witli the ,)aintcrs of
cation of color is here represented; but Beni-Hassan, but it is at Thebes. Pliny
the presence of the pot, containing the asci'il)es the invention of ohie to Da?dalus,
brush, upon the fire (woodcut No. 39S, as well as of the saw, the axe, the plinnb-
i) will scarcely admit of this, thoug'h the line, and the auger. (Plin. vii. 56.)
figure {Jig. 2) grinding on the slab might
Chap. IX.]
CABINET-WORK.
199
beautifully made. I have already noticed several of the smaller
objef;ts, as boxes for trinkets and ointment, wooden spoons, and
the like ; and have described a curious substitute for a hinge ^
in some of those discovered at Thebes.
Many boxes had lids re-
sembling the curved summit
of a royal canopy,^ and were
ornamented with the usual
cornice ; ^ others had a simple
flat cover ; and some few a
pointed summit, resembling
the shelving roof of a house."^
This last kind of lid was
divided into two parts, one
of which alone opened, turning
on two small pins at the base,
on the principle of the doors
of their houses and temples ;
and, when necessary, the two
knobs at the top^ could be tied
together and sealed, in the
same manner as in that pre-
viously mentioned.'^
When not veneered, or in-
laid with rare wood, the sides
and lid were painted ; and
those intended for the tombs,
to be deposited there in honor
of the deceased, had usually a
funeral inscription, or a re-
ligious subject painted upon
them, representing offerings
presented by members of his
family."
Several boxes have been
found at Thebes ; and the British Museum possesses some
formerly belonging to Mr. Salt, one of which is remarkable
O c* tS
a. a
_ 1 A box in the British Museum, No.
5906, has a hinjje like a modern snutf-box,
cylindrical, auddove -tailed into the upper
part of the back. — S. B.
^ Woodcut No. 399,^^5. 1, 2, 3, 6.
3 Woodcut No. 399,.%. 1.
■* F\(js. 4 and 8.
5 Fig. 4.
6 In vol. i. p. 362.
7 Woodcut No. 399, /j-s. 4 and 8.
200
THE ANCIENT EGYPTIANS.
[Chap. IX.
for the brilliancy of the colors imparted to the pieces of
ivory with which it is inlaid. The box is of el)ony ; the ivory,
1 ^t_ 2
r\jr7;'|n'ii:'."i'! !'!!'! ''I iiiiiii'inrAT"^ ('
l)itt'erent boxes.
Fiys. 1 and 2. Mode of placing the lid when the box was opened.
Fif). 3. Man ov)ening a box, from a painting at Thebes.
Figs. 4 aiid r>. A painted box of Mr. Salt's Collection, showing how the lid opened.
6 and 7. ]5oxes from the ])aintings of Thebes.
Fig. 8. Another box with a shelving lid, from a tomb at Thebes, in the
Alnwick Museum.
painted red and blue, is let into the sides and edges, and the
lid is ornamented in the same manner. There is in this
a substitute for a hinge, similar to the one before mentioned.
Chap. IX. 1 BOXES. —VEHICLES. 201
except that here the back of the cross-ljar, cut to a sharp edge
along its whole extent, fits into a corresponding groove at the
end. of the box : the two knobs are fixed in their usual place at
the top and front. The lids of many boxes were made to slide
in a groove, like our small color boxes, as that given in a pre-
ceding wood-cut ; ^ others fitted into the bod}', being cut away
at the edges for this purpose ; and some turned on a pin at the
back, as I have shown in the long-handled boxes before men-
tioned.^ In opening a large box they frequently pushed back
the lid, and then either turned it sideways,^ and left it standing
across the breadth of the box, or suffered it to go to the
ground; but in those of still larger dimensions, it was removed
altogether and laid upon the floor.
With the car})enters may be mentioned the wheelwrights,
the makers of coffins, and the coopers ; and this subdivision of
one class of artisans, showing a systematic partition of labor,
is one of many proofs of the advancement of this civilised
people.
I have already shown that the Egyptian chariot was of wood,*
and have pointed out what portion of it was the province of
the carpenter and the currier; and having described the war-
chariot ° and the curricle of the towns, it only remains to notice
the travelling car, or light plaustrum,- which was drawn by
oxen : the Egyptians also yoked mules to chariots ; an instance
of this occurs in the British Museum. Though so frequently
used in Egypt, it is singular that one instance alone occurs of
this kind of car, in a tomb opened at Thebes in 1827 ; and this
ought to show how wrong it is to infer the non-existence of a
custom from its not being met with in the sculptures. The
same remark also applies to the camel, which, in consequence
1 Wooilciit Xo. 293. meiitc'.l with j^old, silver, and colors.
2 Woodcuts N0..5. 283. 291, and 293. ('Records of the Pnst,' vol. ii. p. 26.)
3 Woodcut No. 399,.;?^s. 1, 2, 3. They had t^vo wheels with six spokes, and
4 I have stated that the E>cyptian chariot no seats, but could liold three persons
had only two wheels, and one instance is standing; but it appears that a carpet was
alone met with of a foiu-whei?led car- sometimes placed on the bottom, on which
riage. Pliny says wasi-oiLS with four the driver sat witli his Icjrs han^nnu- down ;
wheels were an invention of the Phryiarians the body or outer framework was painted,
(lib. vii. 56). and perhaps plated with gold and silver,
5 Chariots do not appear to have been in and the pole was attached by leather
i>se in Eirypt till the commencement of the straps. War-chariots had, in addition,
18th Dynasty. There was a considerable quivers at the sides for holding the bow
importation of them from the Rut-en-nu, and arrows; the colLar was in, shape of a
or Northern Syria and Mesopotamia, and bow. (Pierret, ' Diet. d'Arch. E^^ypt,' pp.
they are described in the annal- of Thoth- 123, 124.) — .S. B.
mes III. as made of beech-wood and orna-
202
THE ANCIENT EGYPTIANS.
[Chap. IX.
of its not Ijeiiig found either in the paintings or hieroglyphics,^
is conjectured by some to liave been unknown in Egypt at an
early period ; though, as 1 have already observed,''^ it is dis-
tinctly mentioned in the Bible among the presents given to
Abraham l)y the king of Egypt.
The plaustrum was very similar to the war-chariot ^ and the
curricle, but the sides appear to have been closed, and it was
drawn by a pair of oxen instead of horses. The harness was
much the same, and the wheels had six spokes. In a journey
it was occasionally furnished with a sort of umbrella, fixed
No. 400. An Ethiopian princess travelling in a plaustrum, or ear drawn by o\en.
Over her is a sort of umbrella. Thebes.
Fig. 3, an attendant. 4, the charioteer or driver.
upon a rod rising from the centre, or back part of the car : the
reins were the same as those used for liorses, and apparently
furnished with a bit ; and l)esides the driver, a groom some-
times attended on foot, at the head of the animals, perhajts
feeding them as they went.
The above wood-out represents an Ethiopian princess, who
is on her journey through Upper Egypt to Thebes, where
the court then resided ; but whether it was on the occasion of
' I have noticed an instance of it on a
seal I found in Nul)ia, of uncertain date.
2 In chap. viii.
3 It has Ijcen always a matter of sur-
prise how the ancients could traverse hilly
countries, where no roads were made, with
so much facility, iu chariots.
€hap. IX. 1 POUNDING IN MORTARS. 203
her projected marriage with tlie king, the brother of the third
Amenophis, or merely to present her homage to him, is uncer-
tain. A hirge tribute is brought at the same time from her
countrymen, the Cush, or Ethiopians ; which seems to show
that it merely relates to a visit of ceremony from the queen or
princess of that country ; and the fact of the charioteer and some
other of the attendants being Egyptians, suggests that the plaus-
trum was also provided from Egypt, as was the case when
Pharaoli sent for Jacob and his family to bring them to Egypt. ^
The plaustra are called in Genesis ' wagons ; ' ^ they were com-
monly used in Egypt for travelling : and Strabo performed the
journey from Syene to the spot where he crossed the river to
visit Phike in one of those carriages.^
Besides the plaustrum, they had a sort of palanquin,* and a
canopy or framework answering the purpose of a sedan-chair, in
which they sometimes sat or stood, in their open pleasure-boats,
or in situations where they wished to avoid the sun ; and these
were also the work of the cabinet-maker.
Certain persons were constantly employed in the towns of
Egypt, as at the present day in Cairo and other places, to pound
various substances in large stone mortars ; and salt, seeds, and
other things were probably taken, in the same manner, by a
servant to these shops, whenever it was inconvenient to have it
done in the house. The pestles they used, as well as the mortars
themselves, were precisely similar to those of the modern Egyp-
tians, and their mode of pounding was the same, two men alter-
nately raising ponderous metal pestles with both hands, and
directing their falling point to the centre of the mortar, which is
now generally made of a large piece of granite, or other hard
stone, scooped out into a long narrow tube, to little more than
half its depth. When the substance was well pounded, it was
taken out and passed through a sieve, and the larger particles
were again returned to the mortar, until it was sufficiently and
equally levigated ; and this, and the whole process here repre-
sented, so strongly resemble the occupation of the public pounders
at Cairo, that no one who has been in the habit of walking in
the streets of that town can fail to recognize the custom, or
doubt of its having been handed down from the early Egyptians,
and retained without the slightest alteration, to the present day.
1 Gen. xlv. 19. _ 3 strabo, lib. xvii. p. 562, ed. Caa. ;
2 Tliev were termed ageloot, rib33?» o.iifn'v.
wheeled ca.vv\Sig&s. {Gen. loc. cit.) ^-' •» Woodcut No. 199.
204
THE ANCIENT EGYPTIANS.
[ClIAI-. IX,
In a country where water and other Hijuids were carried or
kept in skins and earthenware jars, there was little necessity for
the employment of wt)oden barrels, which, too, are little suited
to a climate like the hot and arid Egypt; and modern expe-
rience there shows how ill adapted barrels are for such purposes,
and how soon they fall to pieces, if neglected or left empty for a
very short period. We cannot, therefore, expect that they should
be in common use among the ancient Egyptians ; and the skill
of the cooper ^ was only required to make wooden measures for
grain,^ which were bound with hoops either of wood or metal,
and resembled in principle those now used in Egypt for the same
purpose, though in form they approached nearer to the small
barrels,'^ or kegs, of modern Europe
No. 401.
g d f A 2 C a 6
Pounding various substances in stone mortars with metal pestles.
L
Thebes.
a. </, i, mortars. <l d, pestles. Fiim. 1 ami 2 are alternately raising and letting fall tlie
pestles into the mortar. /'V.(/.v. 3 and 4 are sifting the substance after it is pounded ; the
coarser parts, h, being returned into the mortar trTbe again pounded. Tlic inscriptions are
the directions: k reads, ' Hasten all tlie work in taking care of all that is given cmt; make ye
the bread'; /, 'The pounding of llie corn in the storeliouses of ..."
In an agricultural scene, painted at Reni-Hassan. a small
barrel is represented, placed upon a stand. a[)i)areiitly at the end
of the field, which I at first su|)]iosed to have l)ecii intended to
hold water for tlie use of the liusbaudineii. one of \\liom is ap-
proaching the spot; calling to mind the cu[) oi wine presented
to the ])longhman oh reaching tlie end of the furrow, mentioned
by Homer in his description of the shield of .Vehilles:'^ but it is
' The coopers of Cairo arc generally
Greeks.
2 One of these is representeil in woodcut
No. l()9,./?f7. 2.
•' In Europe, baiTels were said by Pliny
to have been inventctl by the Gauls, who
inhaliitod the banks of the Po. Varro and
Coliiinella mention tlicin iu their time.
They were pitched within, and came into
use at Rome in the days of Doiuitian.
•* Homer, U. i., 515.
Chap. 1X.| BOATS. 205
pn)bable that in this instance also it is intended to indicate the
measure of grain with whicli the Lxnd was to be sown after the
plougli had passed.
A great number of persons were constantly employed in
making coffins, as well as the numerous boxes, wooden figures,
and other objects connected with funerals, who may be compre-
hended under the general head of carpenters; the undertakers,
properly so called, being a different class of people, attached to
and even forming part of the sacerdotal order, though of an
inferior grade. Indeed the ceremonies of the dead were so
numerous, and so many persons were engaged in performing the
several duties connected with them, that no particular class of
people can be said to have had the sole direction in these mat-
ters ; and we find that the highest orders of priests officiated in
some, and in others those of a very subordinate station. Thus
the embalmers were held in the highest consideration, while
those who cut open the body, when the intestines were removed,
are said to have been treated with ignominy and contempt.^
The boat-builders may be divided into two separate and
distinct classes ; one of which formed a subdivision of the car-
penters, the other of the basket-makers, or the weavers of rushes
and osiers, another very numerous class of workmen.
The boats made by these last were a sort of canoe or punt,
used for fishing, and consisted merely of water-plants or osiers,
bound together with bands made of the stalks of the papyrus or
cyperus.^ They were very light, and some so small that they
could easily be carried from one place to another;^ and the
Ethiopian boats mentioned by Pliny,'* which were taken out of
the water and carried on men's shoulders past the rapids of the
cataracts, were probably of a similar kind.
Strabo,^ on the other hand, describes the boats at the cataracts
of Syene passing the falls in perfect security, and exciting the
surprise of the beholders, before whom the boatmen delighted in
displaying their skill ; and Celsus affirms that they were made
of the papyrus.
Papyrus boats are frequently noticed by ancient writers.
Plutarch describes Isis going, in search of the body of Osiris,
' through the fenny country, in a bark made of the papyrus ;
1 Diod. i. m. 3 \,.hilles Tatius, lib. iv.
- Not the same species as that used for •» Fliii. v. 9.
making paper. 5 ytrabo, lib. xvii. p. 562, ed. Cas.
206 THE AXCIEXT EGYPTIANS. [Chap. IX.
whence it is supposed tluit persons using boats of this descrip-
tion are never attacked by crocodiles, out of fear and respect
to the goddess ;' ^ and ]\Ioses is said to have been exposed in ' an
ark (or boat) of bulrushes, daubed with slime and with pitch.' ^
From this last we derive additional proof that the body of such
boats was composed of rushes, which, as I have observed, were
bound together with the papyrus ; and the mode of rendering
them impervious to Avater is satisfactorily pointed out by the
coating of pitch with which they were covered. Nor can there
be any doubt that pitch Mas Icnown in Egypt at that time, since
we find it on objects which have been preserved of the same eai'ly
date ; and the Hebrew word zift is precisely the same as that
used for pitch by the Arabs to the present day.
Pliny mentions boats 'woven of the papyrus,' ^ the rind being-
made into sails, curtains, matting, ropes, and even into cloth ;
and observes elsewhere that the papyrus, the rush, and the reed
Avere all used for making boats in Egypt.*
' Vessels of bulrushes ' are again mentioned in Isaiah.^ Lucan
alludes to the mode of binding or sewing them with bands of
papyrus ; ^' and Theophrastus ' notices boats made of the papyrus,
and sails and ropes of the rind of the same plant. That small
boats were made of these materials is very probable ; and the
sculptures of Thebes, Memphis, and other places abundantly
show that they Avere employed as punts or canoes for fishing in
all parts of Egypt during the inundation of the Nile, particulai'ly
in the lakes and canals of the Delta.
There Avas another kind, called by Strabo pecto?i, in one of
Avhich he crossed the Nile to the Island of Philse, 'made of
thongs, so as to reseml^le Avicker-work :' ^ but it does not appear
from his account Avhether it Avas formed of reeds bound together
Avith thongs, or Avas like those made in Armenia, and used for
going doAvn the river to Babylon, Avhich Herodotus describes, of
osiers covered Avith hides.'^
The Armenian boats Avere merely emi)loyed for transporting
1 oods d( )Avn the current of the Euphrates, and on reaching Babylon
1 Pint, (le Isid. s. 18. ' Theoplirast. iv. 0.
- Exod. ii. 3. The bulrush is called s straho, xvii. pp. 54, 562.
JS?32; the paper reeds in Isaiah xix. 7 arc ^ Ilcrodor. i. 191. The coracles of ihe
". ancient Britons wore made ol wicker-work
niy. covered with hides. (Ca-;. B. (i. i. 54.)
;i^pi- .■■• 11 [And the i^c'oirrapher mention-; another
' ti "i'' ^-'".M 0.^1.-5; ifi kind of boat used on the canals durinjr the
5 Isaiah xviH ? inundatiou {testacea, iarpiKiva). — G. W.
6 Lucan, iv. 136-
Chap. IX. ] BOATS. 207
were broken up ; the hides being put upon the asses which had
been brought on board for this jHirpose, and the traders returning
home by hind. ' They were round, in form of a shield, without
either head or stern ; the hollow part of the centre being filled
with straw.' ' Some were large, others small, and the largest
were capable of bearing 5,000 talents' weight.' They were,
therefore, very different from the boats reported by the same
historian to have been made in Egypt for transporting goods
up the Nile, which he describes as being built in the form of
ordinary boats, with a keel, and a mast and sails.
' The Egyptian boats of burden,' Herodotus says, ' are made
of a thorn wood, very similar to the lotus of Cyrene, from which a
tear exudes, called gum. Of this tree they cut planks, measuring
about two cubits, and, having arranged them like bricks, they
build the boat in the following manner : They fasten the planks
round firm long pegs, and, after this, stretch over the surface a
iieries of girths, but without any ril)s, and the whole is bound
within by bands of papyrus. A single rudder is then put through
the keel, and a mast of thorn-wood, and sails of the papyrus
(rind) complete the rigging. These boats can only ascend the
stream with a strong wind, unless they are towed by ropes from
the shore ; and when coming down the river, they are provided
with a hurdle made of tamarisk,^ sewed together with reeds, and
a stone, about two talents' weight, with a hole in the centre. The
hurdle is fastened to the head of the boat, and allowed to float
on the water ; the stone is attached to the stern, so that the
former, carried down the river by the rapidity of the stream,
draws after it the baris — for such is the name of these vessels —
and the latter, dragged behind and sinking into the water,^
serves to direct its course. They have many of these boats,
some of which carry several thousand talents' weight.' ^
That boats of the peculiar construction he here describes
were really used in Egypt is very probable ; they may have been
employed to carry goods from one town to another, and navi-
gated in the manner he mentions ; but we may be allowed to
doubt their carrying several thousand talents' or many tons'
weight ; and we have the evidence of the paintings of Upper
and Lower Egypt to show that the large boats of burthen
' Plin. xiii. 21: ' Myricen, quam alii stream; but no hurdle anywhere in the
tamarieen vocant.' water. — G. W.]
- They now put stones at the head of 3 Herodot. ii. 96.
tUeir lijfht boats, on soing down the
208
THE ANCIEXT EGYPTIANS.
I Chap. IX.
f
J_-
m
i
were made of wooden planks, whicli men are seen cutting with
saws and liatcbets, and afterwards fastening together with nails
and pins ; and they were furnished with spacious cabins, like
those of modern Egypt.
[The boats of the Nile are still built with planks of the sont.
The planks, arranged as Herodotus states, like bricks, a,ppear
to have been tied to several long stakes, fastened to them inter-
nally. Something of the kind is still done, when they raise an
I ii LI 11 U ] 4 « u__ extra bulwark above the gunwale. In
I a]' lJ I iTn the large boats of burthen the i)lanks were
~^ — ^ ^ ^'~' secured by nails and bolts, which men
are represented in the paintings driving
into holes, previously drilled for them.
There was also a small kind of punt
or canoe, made entirely^of the papyrus,
bound together with bands of the same
plant, the ' vessels of bulrushes ' men-
tioned in Isaiah ; ^ but these were not
capable of carrying large cargoes, and still less would j)apyrus
ships cross the sea to the Isle of Taprobane, Ceylon, as Pliny
supposes.^ This mistake may have originated in some sails and
ropes having been made of the papyrus ; but these were rarely
used, even on the Nile. In one of the paintings at Kon el Ahmar
one is represented with a sail, which might be made of the papyrus
rind, and which appears to fold up like those of the Chinese ;
I-
^
Method of buililing boats, as
Xo. 4U2. seen from within.
No. -lu:;.
Caiioi- of iiaiiyrus, boiui'l witli bands of the same.
and the mast is (l()ul)le. which was usual in large boats in
the time of the 4tli and other early dynasties.^ That cloth sails,
occasionally with colored devices worked or painted on them.
' Isaiah xviii. 20. Plin. vi. 22; vii. l(i; s. 18. Liican, iv. 136.
xiii. 11. Theophrabt..iv. 9. Pint, de Isid. 2 piin. vi. 22. 8 Woodcut No. 410.
Chap. IX. 1
BOATS.
209
should, be found on the monuments at least as early as the 18th
and 19th Dynasties, is not surprising, since the Egyptians were
noted at a very re-
mote period for the
manufacture of lin-
en and other cloths,
and exported sail-
cloth to Phcenicia.^
Hempen ^ and palm
ropes are also
shown by the mon-
uments to have
been adopted for
all the tackling of
boats. Tlie process
of making them is
found at Beni-Has-
san and at Thebes ;
and ropes made
from the strong-
fibre of the palm-
tree are frequently
found in the tombs.
This last was prob-
ably the kind most
generally used in
Egypt, and is still
very common t liere,
as the cocoa-nut
ropes are in India.
The large boats
had generally a sin-
gle rudder, which
resembled a long
oar, and traversed
on a beam at the
stern, instances of
which occur in
many countries at
the present day; but
many had two rudders, one at each side, near the stern, suspended
1 Ezek. xxvii. 7.
2 Herod, vrt. 25.
14
210 THE ANCIENT EGYPTIANS. [Chap. IX.
at the gunwale, or slung from a post, as a pivot, on which it
turned. The small-sized boats of buren were mostly fitted with
two rudders ; and one instance occurs of three on the same side.
On the rudder, as on tlie Ijows of the boat, was painted the eye,
a custom still retained in the Mediterranean and in China;
but the Egyptians seem to have confined it to the funeral haris.
The boats always had one mast at the time Herodotus was in
Egypt ; but it may be doubted if it was of the heavy acantha
wood, which could with difficulty have been f(uind sufficiently
long and straight for the purpose ; and fir-wood was too well
known in Egypt not to be employed for masts. Woods of
various rare kinds were imported into Egypt from very distant
countries as early as the time of the 18th Dynasty ; and deal was
then used for all common purposes, as well as the native syca-
more. The hulls of boats were even sometimes made of deal ;
and it would have been strange if they had not discovered how
much more it was adapted for the masts. In the time of the 4th,
6th, and other early dynasties the mast was double ; but this
was given up as cumbrous, and was not used after the accession
of the 18th or even of the 12th Dynasty. The custom of towing
up the stream is the same at present in Egypt ; but the modern
boatmen make use of the stone in coming down the stream to
impede the boat, which is done by suspending it from the stern,
while the tamarisk raft before the head is dispensed with. The
contrivance Herodotus mentions was not so much to increase the
speed as to keep the boat straight, by offering a large and
buoyant object to the stream. When the rowers are tired, and
boats are allowed to float down, they turn broadside to the stream ;
and it was to prevent this that the stone and tamarisk raft Avere
applied. A practice almost entirely similar is described by the late
Col. Chesney as prevailing to this day on the Euphrates, speak-
ing of the kufah, or round river-boat, he says: ' These boats, in
descending the river, have a luuidle of luirdles attached, which
float in advance, and a stone of the weight of two talents drags
alone: the bottom to o^uide them.' tEscIivIus had used this word
before Herodotus -as the projier term for an Enupfian boat.^ He
had also poetically extended it to the whole fleet of Xerxes.^
Euri[)ides used it as aforeir/n term.^ Afterwards it came to be a
mere variant for nloiop^ I had sujtposed Baris to mean ' Boat of
1 Siippl. 815 and 858. 3 iph. in Anlid : 0apP6povs P6piia{.
2 Pers. 555. ■* Bloonifield's note on .^schyl. Pers. 595.
Chap. IX.]
BOATy.
211
the Sun.' Baris has erroneously been derived from Bai, 'pahn
branch,' which had certainly this meaning/ but Oua^ or Ua^ a
' boat ' is a different word, though a Greek would write it with
a ;^, or beta. The name Baris is used by Plutarch ^ and others.
There was an Egyptian boat with a cabin, called by Strabo
thalamegus^ or thalamifer^is^^ used by the governors of provinces
for visiting Upper Egypt; and a similar one was employed in
Xo. 405.
I.;ilis, Willi sUimc.
the funeral processions on the sacred Lake of the Dead.'* There
was also a small kind of boat, with a cabin or awning, in which
gentlemen were towed by their servants upon the lakes in their
pleasure-grounds.^ But all their large boats had cabins, often
of great height and size, and even common market boats were
furnished with them, and sufficiently roomy to hold cattle and
various goods.^ The size of boats on the Nile varies now as of
old ; and some used for carrying corn, which can only navigate
the Nile during the inundation, are rated at from 2000 to 4800
ardebs, or about 10,000 to 24,000 bushels' burthen. The ships
of war of the ancient Egyptians were not generally of great size,
at least in the early times of the 18th and 19th Dynasties, when
they had a single row of from 20 to 44 or 50 oars, and were
similar to the 'long ships' und pentekonteroi of the Greeks, and
the galleys of the Mediterranean during the Middle Ages. Some
were of much larger dimensions. Diodorus mentions one of
cedar, dedicated by Sesostris to the god of Thebes, measuring
280 cubits (from 420 to 478 feet) in length and in later times
they were remarkable both for length and height : one built by
1 And which is even used in John xii.
13, Ta puta tCov (potviKoiv, 'pahn branches.'
2 De Isid. s. 18; lamblichus, de Myst.
s. 6, eh. V.
3 Strabo, xvii. pp. 1134-5.
4 Woodcut No. 405.
5 Woodcut No. 406.
6 Woodcut No. 407.
212
THE ANCIENT EGYPTIANS.
[Chap. IX.
Ptolemy Philopator luiviiig 40 banks of oars, and measuring 280
cubits (or about 478 feet) in length, 38 in breadth, and 48 cubits
(or about 83 feet) in height, or 53 from the keel to the top of
the poop, whicii carried 400 sailors, besides 4000 rowers, and near
3000 soldiers.^ Athenteus says Philopator built another, used on
the Nile, half a stadium or about 300 feet long, upwards of 40
cubits broad, and nearly 30 high ; and ' the number belonging
K.). 406,
Pleasure-boat towed roimd a iiond.
Thebes.
to Ptolemy Philadelphus exceeded those of any other king, he
having two of 30 banks, one of 20, four of 14, two of 12, fourteen
of 11, thirty of 9, thirty-seven of 7, five of 6, seventeen quin-
queremes, and more than twice that number of quadriremes,
triremes,' &c. He also describes Hiero's ship of 20 banks sent as
a present to Ptolemy. It is singular that no Egyj)tian, Assyrian,
Greek, or Roman monument represents a galley of more than
1 Pint. Vit. Dcmet. Athen. Deipn. v. p. 204; Pliny, vii. 50, who mentions one of 40,
and another of iiO banks of oars.
Chap. IX. ]
BOATS.
213
one, or at most two tiers of oars except a Roman painting found
in the Orti Farnesiani which gives one with three, though trire-
mes and quinqueremes were the most generally employed. We
are not, however, reduced to the necessity of crediting these
statements of Pliny and Herodotus ; and though punts and
canoes of osiers and papyrus, or reeds, may have been used on
some occasions, as they still are,^ on the Nile and the lakes of
Egypt, we may be certain that the Egyptians had strong and
well-built vessels for the purposes of trade by sea, and for carry-
ing merchandise, corn, and other heavy commodities on the
No. 407.
a /> c ^ f
Boats for carrying cattle and goods on the Nile.
Thebes.
The two boats are fastened to the bank by ropes and stakes,//. In the cabin of the first
boat, a man bastinadoes a boatman, c. He is accompanied by a dog, a. In the second boat
is a cow, d, and a net of hay or chopped straw, shent, e, as used at present. Men at y and h
are lashing the boats together.
Nile ; and that, even if they had been very bold and skilful
navigators, they would not have ventured to India,^ nor have
defeated the fleets of Phoenicia,^ in their paper vessels.
The sails, when made of the rind of the papyrus, have been
supposed similar to those of the Chinese, which fold up like our
Venetian blinds ; but there is only one boat represented in the
paintings which appears to have sails of this kind, though so many
are introduced there ; nor can we believe that a people noted for
their manufactures of linen and other cloths, would have pre-
ferred so imperfect a substitute as the rind of a plant, especially
as they exported sail-cloth to Phoenicia for that very purpose.*
1 They are very rude, and much smaller
than those of ancient times.
2 Among the numerous productions of
India met with in Egypt, wliich tend to
prove an intercourse with that country,
uia\- be mentioned the pine-apple, models
of which are found in the tombs, of glazed
potter}'. One was in the possession of Sir
Eichard Westmacott.
[.These are supposed to have been bottles
for holding quicksilver, introduced by the
Aral)s, from some of that metal liaving
been found in them. Others liave con-
jectured them to have been powder-flasks
or grenades. — S. B.]
3 In the reign of Apries.
■* Ezelviel xxvii. 7. In the lamentation
of Tyre, ' Fine linen with broidered work
from Egypt was that which thou spread-
est forth to be thy sail.' [A sail of this
214 THE ANCIENT EGYPTIANS. [Ciiai'. IX.
Diodorus^ and Herodotus ^ both mention the fleet of long
vessels, or ships of war, fitted out by Sesostris hi the Arabian
Gulf. The former states that they were four hundred in number,
and that Sesostris was the first Egyptian monarch who built
similar vessels; but Herodotus merely says he was the first who
passed into the ocean ; and the necessitj- of previously having
ships of war to -protect the trade and coasts of Egypt disproves
his statement, and suggests that they were used at the early
i:)eriod, Avhen the port of Philoteras traded with tlie Arabian
and, perhaps, even the Indian shore.
Pliny supposes that ships were first built by Danaus,^ and
taken from Egypt to Greece when he migrated to that country,
rafts only having been previously known ; and he states that
some attributed their invention to the Trojans and Mysians. who
crossed the Hellespont in their wars with Thrace."* The sculp-
tures, however, of ancient Egypt still remain to decide the ques-
tion ; and their dates being now ascertained, we are enabled to
form our own opinions on the subject, without the necessity of
trusting; to the uncertain accounts of ancient writers. From the
sculptures of the 18th Dynasty, it appears that the same kind
of boats for carrying heavy burthens was then employed in
Egypt, as in the later days of Psammatichus and Amasis ; they
are found at Eileithyia and Beni-Hassan of the age of Amasis,^
and of Usertesen, the contemporary of Joseph : and in the tombs
near the Pyramids they again occur, of an epoch previous to
the 16th Dynasty and the reign of Usertesen.
[Boats, indeed, are represented on the sculptures at the ear-
liest period, as early as the 4th Dynasty, and in a country like
Egypt were a necessity of the earliest civilization ; they were
chiefly boats of burthen and transports. The remarkable in-
scription of Una, of the 5th Dynasty,*^ mentions, however, war
vessels, and describes the transport of the stone for the pyramid
Shanefer, of the king Merenra, to have been made by six boats of
burthen, three to wing-boats, three boats of eight lengths, and one
war-vessel. This officer also states that he made for the purpose
kinil, made of separate pieces tied to- * Clemens thinks Atlas, the Libyan, to
jrelher, and haulinjr up like a Venetian have been tlic first who built ships and
blind, i-i in the Liverpool Museum, and ventured on tlie sea.
shows that such sails were actually em- ^ These two names are l)oth written
ployed. — s. B.] Ames in the hiero<jlyphics, hut I use them.
i Uiodor. i. o5. thus l)y way of distinction, and in accord-
2 Ilerodot. ii. 102. ance with Manetho.
3 Plin. vii. 56. ^ ' Records of the Past,' ii. 7.
Chap. IX.] BOATS. 215
a boat of burthen 60 cubits, or rather more than 90 feet h)ng,
and 30 cubits, or 35 feet broad, in 17 days — a very rapid con-
struction. Besides galleys, mens', there were sacred barges,
the repairs of which at the time of the 18th Dynasty are men-
tioned in the papyri. These were to be executed by means of
beams of acacia and cedar. There are also descriptions of
barges of acacia, cedar, and other woods, placed on the Nile by
Thothmes III. and Rameses III. The material of the cedar
barges came from the Rutennu. — S. B.]
The ingenious Charapollion conjectured that some hieroglyph-
ics at Eileithyia proved^ the inmate of one of the tombs there,
called ' Ahmosis the son of Obschne,' to have been 'chief of the
mariners, or rather of the pilots,' who ' entered the naval career
in the time of King Ahmosis,' and 'accom|)anied that monarch,
when he went up by water to Ethiopia to impose tribute upon it,'
and ' commanded ships under Thoutmosis the First.' If this be
true, it confirms what I have before stated respecting the early
existence of an Egyptian fleet ; and whatever improvement may
have been afterwards made in the ships of war fitted out by
Sesostris and other monarchs in the Arabian Gulf and jNIedi-
terranean,^ we have sufficient evidence from the paintings of the
tombs at Eileithyia, that in the time of the same Amosis the
ordinary travelling boats of the Nile were of a construction far
superior to those mentioned by Herodotus.
The construction of the various boats used on the Nile varied
according to the purposes for which they were intended. The
punts or canoes were either pushed with a pole or propelled
with a paddle ; ^ they had neither mast nor rudder ; and many
of the small boats, intended merely for rowing, were unpro-
vided with a mast or sails. They were also destitute of the
raised cabin common in large sailing-boats, and the rowers
appear to have been seated on the flat deck, which covered the
interior from the head to the stern, pushing instead of pulling
the oars, contrary to the usual custom in boats of larger dimen-
sions. The absence of a mast did not altogether depend on
the size of the boat, since those belonging to fishermen, which
were very small, were often furnished with a sail, besides three
or four oars ; * and some large boats, intended for carrying-
cattle and heavy goods, were sometimes without a mast.
1 ChampoUion's twelfth letter from 3 Contest of boatmen, woodcut No. 341,
Egypt. (' Lit. Gazette,' p. 617.) fig. 1.
^ Herodot. li. 102 and 159. Diodor. ■* Fishing' scene, woodcut No. 361, part
1.68. I, a.
216
THE ANCIENT EGYPTIANS.
[Chap. IX.
In going up the Nile they used the sail whenever the wind
was favorable, occasionally rowing in those parts where the
yinuosities of the river brought it too much upon the bows ;
for it is probable that, like the modern Egyptians, they did not
tack in navigating the river ; and when the wind was contrary,
or during a calm, they generally employed the tow-line, which
was pulled by men on shore.
After they had reached the southernmost point of their jour-
ney up the stream, the sail was no longer considered necessary ;
and the mast and yards being taken dowm, were laid over the
top of the cabin, or on a short temporary mast, wdth a forked
summit, precisely in the same way, and with the same view, as
at the present day, on board the cangias, and other masted
rowing boats of Egypt. For as the wind generally blows from
the N.W., it seldom happens that the sail can be used in going
No. 408. A boat with the mast and sail taken dovm, having a chariot and horses on board.
EiUithi/ia.
down the Nile, and in a strong wind the mast and rigging are
so great an incumbi-ance, that the boat is unable to make any
way against it with oars.
The heavy boats of burthen, which, from their great size,
cannot be propelled by oars, are suffered to retain their masts
and sails, and float down the river sideways at the rate of the
stream, advantage being taken of the wind whenever the bends
of the river allow of it ; and the large germs, used for carrying
corn during the inundation, are only employed when the Avater
is very deep, and are laid up the rest of the year, and covered
with matting from the sun. These, therefore, form exceptions to
the ordhiary boats of tlie Nile, and may be considered similar
to some represented in the sculptures of Alabastron, which are
fastened to the shore by several large ropes, and are shown ron;
the size of their cabins, the large awning in front for covering
Chap. IX. I BOATS. ^ 217
the goods they carried, and the absence ofoars, to have been of
vmusual dimensions.
In a boat given in the preceding woodcut from a tomb at
Eileithyia an error has frequently been made respecting the wheel
upon the top of the cabin, which some have supposed to be con-
nected with the sail,^ in order to enable the yard to traverse with
greater facility, or for some such purpose ; but on a careful ex-
amination of the subject it proves to be part of a chariot, too
niucli defaced by time to be easily perceived at first sight, and
the horses belonging to it are seen below in front of the cabin.
Tliis circumstance not only shows the comforts with which the
Egyjitian grandees travelled when going from one part of the
country to the other, but affords additional proof of the size of
the boats used upon the Nile.
Large boats had generally one, small pleasure-boats two
rudders at the stern. The former traversed uj^on a beam, be-
tween two projecting heads, a short pillar or mast supporting it
and acting as the centre on which it moved ; the latter were
nearly the same in principle except that they turned on a bar,
or in a ring, by which they were suspended to the gunwale at
either side ; and in both instances the steersman directed them
by means of a rope fastened to the upper extremity. The rudders
consisted of a long broad blade and still longer handle, evidently
made in imitation of the oars by which they originally steered
their boats before they had so far im[)roved them as to adopt a
fixed rudder ; and in order to facilitate its motion upon the mast
or pillar, and to avoid the friction of the wood, a piece of bull's
hide was introduced, as is the custom in the modern boats,
between the mast and yard.
The oar was a long, round, wooden shaft, to which a flat
board, of oval or circular form, was fastened, and it is remarkable
that the same oar is iised to this day on the Ganges and in the
Arabian Gulf. These turned either on thole-pins, or in rings,
fastened to the gunwale of the boat, and the rowers sat on the
deck, on benches, or on low seats, or stood or knelt to the oar,
sometimes pushing it forwards, sometimes, and indeed more gene-
rally, pulling it, as is the modern custom in Egypt and in most
other countries.
At the head of the boat a man usuallv stood,^ with a long
1 The other boat vepi'esented in this suljject has (he sail up, and the same chariot od
board. It is, indeed, the same boat, with and without the sail.
^ Ovid, Met. iii. 617.
218 THE ANCIENT EGYPTIANS. \Cn\v. IX.
•
pole 1 in his hand, by which he tried at intervals the depth of the
water, lest they should run upon any of the numerous sandbanks
with which the river abounds, and which, from their often
changing at the time of the inundation, could not always be
known to the most skilful pilot ; a precaution still adopted bv
the modern boatmen of the Nile.
That the ancient Egyptian boats were built with ribs like
those of the present day is sufliciently proved b}' the rude models
discovered in the tombs of Thebes. It is probable that they had
very little keel, in order to enable them to avoid the sandbanks,
and to facilitate their removal from them when they struck ; and
indeed, if we may judge from the models, the}^ appear to have
been flat-bottomed. The boats now used on the Nile have a very
small keel, particularly at the centre, where it is concave; so
that when the head strikes they put-to the helm, and the hollow
part clears the bank, except in those cases where the impetus is
too great, or the first warning is neglected.
The sails of the ancient boats appear to have been always
square, with a yard above and below, in which they differ from
those now adopted in Egypt. The only modern boats with
square sails are a sort of lighter, employed for conveying stones
from the quarries to Cairo and other places, and these have only
a yard at the top. All other boats have latine or triangular-
shaped sails, which, in order to catch the wind when the Nile is
low, are made of immense size ; for unless they reach above its
lofty banks they are often prevented from benefiting by a side
wind at that season of the year ; but the number of accidents
which occur are a great objection to the use of such dispropor-
tionate sails.
The cabins of the Egyptian boats were lofty and spacious ;
they did not, however, always extend over the whole breadth of
the boat, as in the modern cangias, hut merely occupied the
centre ; the rowers sitting on either side, generally on a bench
or stool. They were made of wood, with a door in front, or some-
times on one side, and they were painted within and without
with numerous devices, in brilliant and lively colors.^ The
same custom continued to the latest times, long after the con-
quest of the country by the Romans ; and when the Arab>
invaded Egypt in 638, under Amer, the general of the Caliph
1 The midlree of the Arabs; Wiccontns, or pertica, of the Romans.
2 Plate XIII. [Viro-il, Gcory. iv. 'jsn :
'Et circuiu pictis vehitiir siiu rum I'usclis.' — G. W.]
Chap. IX.] BOATS. 219
Omer, one of the objects whicli struck tlieni with surprise was
the gay appearance of the painted boats of the Nile.
The lotus was one of their favorite devices, as on their fur-
niture, the ceilings of rooms, and other places, and it was very
common on the blade of the rudder, wliere it was frequently
repeated at both ends, together with the eye. But the place
considered peculiarly suited to the latter emblem was the head
or bow of the boat ; ^ and the custom is still retained in some
countries to the present day. In India it is very generally
adopted ; and we even see the small barques which ply in the
harbor of Malta and other parts of the Mediterranean, and even
as far north as the Bay of Cadiz, bearing the eye on their bows,
in the same manner as the boats of ancient Egypt ; and the
ancient Greeks used this device on their boats, shields, and in
other places. Many instances are found on the vases of Italy,
the work of Greek colonists settled in that country.
They do not appear to have had anything like the aplustre
of the Romans, an ornament fixed to the stern, and sometimes
to the prow, on which a staff was erected, bearing a ribbon or
flag ; but streamers were occasionally attached to the pole of
the rudder, and a standard was erected near the head of the
vessel.^ The latter was generally a sacred animal ; ^ a S[)hinx,
or some emblem connected with religion or royalty, like those
belonging to the infantry before described ; and sometimes the
top of the mast bore a shrine of feathers, the symbol of the
deity to whose protection they committed themselves during
their voyage. [Sacred boats or barges had generally the head
and collar of the deity to whom they w^ere sacred, made of
bronze, attached to them : thus the boats or arks of Amen-ra
had the ram's head surmounted by a disk and the collar, us/ ;
those of Isis, the head and collar of the goddess. — S. B.]
There is a striking resemblance, in some points, between the
boats of the ancient Egyptians and those of India : the form of
the stern, the principle and construction of the rudder, the cabins,
the square sail, the copper eye on each side of the head, the line
of small squares at the side, like false windows,* and the shape
of the bnats used on the Ganges, forcibly call to mind those of
the Nile, represented in the paintings of the Theban toml)S.
[The war-galleys, which belong to this section, have already
' [Some have supposed the eye was only 3 Perhaps answering to the vaoaaijfiov of
•on tlie Ijoats of the dead, — G. W.] ' the Greeks, though not at the prow itself.
2 Plate XIII., boats Avith colored sails. * Woodcut No. 411.
220
THE ANCIENT EGYPTlANb.
[Chap. IX-
been described in Chapter III., and do not appear on llie uionn-
nients till the reign of Ranieset? III., the lirst monarch whose fleet
is represented upon the scal})tures. In their construction they
offer a considerable resemblance to the biremes of Assurbanipal,,
seen on the monuments of Kouyunjik ; l)Ut they are never seen
with more than one bank of oars, although the use of the ship
of war is as old as the time of the 6th Dynasty, when they were
sent down the Nile for the purpose of convoying stone and other
materials from Nubia, and escorting the ships of burthen then
destined to bring these things to Lower Egypt. It would indeed
appear that even at that earl}- time the sail had come into use,
and it was continued till a later time. At the [)eriod of the
2Uth Dynasty, the war-galley had l)eeu considerably modified.
The prow has the introduction of a Ijrazcn head, like the rostrum
Xo. 409. War-galley; the sail being pulleil up iluriiiy the action. Tlithes.
a, raised forecastle, in which the archers were posted, c, another post for the archers, and'
the pilot, (/. e, a bulwark, to protect the rowers. /, sliuger, in the top.
of the Roman galley, and the sides have high raised bulwarks
to protect the crew from boarding assaults or the effect of arrows.
The Ph(eiiician galley had the bucklers of the soldiers hung
outside the l)ulwarks to afford additional protection to the crew,
when not going into action; and the Egyptians, in going into
action, stationed an archer at the maintop or crow's nest, and
appear from the raising of the sail to have depended chiefly
on the effects of ramming by aid of the rowers to propel the
prow against a hostile vessel. In the above woodcut it will
be seen that the vessel is full of captives as well as soldiers,,
showing the humanity of the E^gyptiaus. These caittives are
natives of the race of the Pulusatu, the sui)posed Pelasgi or
Chap. IX.]
WAR-VESSELS.
221
Philistines. The war-vessel (Xo.401>) liad twenty oars, but it is
j)r()bable that all are not represented, and galleys with as many
as fifty-two oars appear at the time of the Pyramids. For these
larger galleys the rudder, lieriu required as many as six men. The
galleys, however, which the queen Hasheps or Hatasu sent to
Pount had only thirty oars. These vessels were, as at the present
day, named ; and those in which Aahmes son of Abna embarked
during the war against the Shepherds were called ' the Calf,' ' the
North,' and ' the Memphian sunrise.' These ships of war of the
enemies of the Egyptians had the head of a swan, and, like the
Egyptian galleys, had two decks. Besides the war galleys, there
>\i>. 410. Large galley of 44 oars with sail, apparently made of the papyrus, a dmil>le mast,
and many rowers. /(( a tomb at Kom el Ahmar, above Minicli.
were galleys without masts or sails. The fleet of Hasheps had
one-decked galleys or barges with seats or shrines, their prows and
sterns ornamented with figures of Harmachis, lotus-flowers, heads
of Isis and the cow of Athor, Mentu-ra, and the Ibex. In some
of these there was no covering,^ so that the crew must have slept
in cabins below, indicated by the ports. The rower stood or sat,
and the whip seems to have been applied. A small galley of
older period has an awning supported by a pole, to protect the
rowers from the heat of the sun.^ In all these larger galleys the
look-out was kept by a pilot or captain, who had a stick or wand
or held a sceptre. With the wand he sounded the depths. The
1 Dnemichen, 'The Fleet of an Egj'ptian Qiieeu; ' I^ondon, 1868, Tuf. ii.-v.
s Ibid. Taf. xxv. 2, 11.
222 THE ANCIEXT EGYPTIANS. [Chap. IX.
boats of burthen either had no sails or else lo^vered their masts
and yards ; they carried these supported on poles, to cover the
rowers; they often had cabins or nettings lor the transport of
objects. Sometimes four oars were lashed to the neck of a cow
jjlaced in the prow, to aid or as a substitute for rowers probably
on the return V(jyage dovvn the Nile with the crew.
The galleys with sails, not for the pui-poses of war, were all
much upon the same plan ; they never had more than one mast,
like a ladder, and one sail, and were with or without a man's
cal)in, as the case might be, place<l abaft the mast. The sail was
generally raised and turned from the deck, by lines to the ends
of the yards, by a man seated above the cabin :. occasionally
men hauled from the lower yard. They were rarely braced.
Sometimes the masts were lowered. The prows also often ter-
minated in the heads of animals, like the war-galleys. The
greater boats of this kind had -ornamented awnings of diapered
cloth or basket-work. They resembled our 3-achts. The smaller
boats of burthen were the same as our barges, and it is remarkable
to find that, as in our barges, women occasionally steered,^ or
accompanied the master of the boat. These barges were called
M.s/r//, which means 'broad,' as if the war galleys, mensh, were long.
The smaller boats were called hari, and were used for general
purposes, but contained fewer rowers, sometimes only one person :
they seem to have principally been made of papyrus. There
were also tow boats, which were drawn along the banks of the
river and canals by gangs of sailors or peasants, but these were
perhaps only occasionally required, and the boat generally
propelled by the oar.
To these smaller boats pertained those which acted as gondolas
of the dead. The- mummy was laid on a bier, having over it a
baldequin or canopy, and, besides a few sailors, carried the
mourners and priests. Various other terms were applied to
different boats, as the seket and at to the boat of the sea.
The sacred barques or barges were paraded at certain festivals,
and carried by priests on their shoulders by means of a stand
and poles ; many representations of wliich occur on the sculp-
tures. The description of one thus exhibited in the hypostyle
hall of Karnak, dedicated by Seti I. to the god Amen-ra, runs
thus: "It was gilded with foreign gold and inlaid with precious
stones, and ornamented M'ith lapis-lazuli. It illuminated, like
1 Duemichcii, 'The Fleet of an Egyptian Queen,' Taf. xxvii. 7, 9.
Chap. IX.] BOATS. 223
the sunrise, the river by its splendor. It was hailed on its
passage when it returned to Thebes."
In the coffin of the Queen Aah-hetp of the 18th Dynasty a
remarkable model of a gallej^ was found, made of solid gold, with
silver rowers, liaving in the centre a person holding a hatchet
and curved stick ; a steersman, who guided the vessel with a
rudder ; and a boatswain, who, standing up, directed by a song
the keeping time of the oars. The galley was placed on a car
of four wheels, the oldest instance of the employment of so
many, and showing how the boats were shipped. ^ In some
instances, a man with a trumpet stationed in the prow gave a
signal of the advance, or else spoke through it to other boats to
keep out of the way.'-^
The names and various parts of a boat are described in the
{)9th chapter of the ' Ritual.' ^ They are as follows : the boat itself,
maxen ; the pole, wewa ; the \.qq\^ xerp ; the \)Vov^\ hunt ; the
hold, agt ; the mast, xa ; the lower deck, ann. t Tear ; the scuttle-
hole, i«<fa ; the sail, hnta ; the haulyards, s'et tut ; the pump,
rnatdhu ; the planks or pegs, uJcai ; the seat or deck, sars ; the
rudder, hen ; the keel, tep. — S. B.]
There is no instance of a boat with a rudder at both ends,
.said to have been used by some ancient nations,^ nor do we find
them provided with more than one mast and a single sail ; in
which respect they resembled those of the Greeks at the period
of the Trojan war.^ Sometimes the single rudder, instead of
traversing in a groove or hollow space, merely rested on the
exterior of the curved stern, and was suspended by a rope or
bands ; but that imperfect method was confined to boats used
in religious ceremonies on the river, an instance of which may
loe seen in the model preserved at Berlin, as well as in the
paintings of Thebes.
This model, which is very curious, shows the position of the
rowers, the arrangement of the mast and yard when taken down,
the place of the pegs and mallet for fastening the boat to the
shore, and of the landing plank, which were always kept in readi-
ness, as at the present day, in the bows, and were under the
surveillance of the man stationed at the prow to report and
fathom the depth of the water ; it also shows that tlie boat was
1 Pierret, ' Diet. d'Arche'ol. Eyvi>t.,' ^ Lepsius, ' Todtcnhuch,' xxxv. and
p. 87 " xxxvi. c. 99, 1, 0, and foil.
- Ducmichen, 'The Fleet of an Egvp- •* Tacit, de ISIor. Germ. 44, and Ann. ii. 6.
tiau Queen,* Taf. xxv. 6. " s Homer, Od. E, 254.
224
THE ANCIENT EGYPTIANS.
[Chap. IX
decked, ami that the cabin did not extendover the whole breadth,
which is ill ijcrt'ect accordance with the sculptures, representing
the pleasure-boats of the Nile, and those of their funeral
ceremonies. In some boats of burthen, the cabin, or raised maga-
zine, was broatler, reaching- probably from one side to the other,
and suthcienth' large to contain cattle, liorses, and numerous
stores.^ Unlike the modern Egyptians, tliey paid great attention
to the cleanliness of their boats, the cabins and decks being fre-
quently washed and swept, and we find the Theban artists
thought it of sufficient importance to be indicated in the sculp-
tures.
Herodotus states that the mast was made of the acanthus, the
Acacia, or 3Iimosa Nilotiea ; but as tlie trunk and limbs of this
tree are not sufficiently long or straight, it is evident that the
historian was misinformed ; and we may readily conceive that
they preferred the fir, with which they were well acquainted,^
Xo. 411. Boatof the Nile; showing how the sail was fastened to the yards, and the nature
of the ri;jging. </, yard. /(, mast. /', hole for ropes to haul up sail, e, forecastle. Thebes,
great quantity of the wood being annually imported into Egy[)t
from Syria. The planks, the ribs, and the keel were of the acacia^
which, from its resisting the effect of water for a length of time,
was found, says Pliny,^^ well ada})ted for this purpose, as is fully
proved by modern experience. The foot of the mast was let into
a strong beam, which crossed the whole breadth of the boar ; it
was su])ported by and lashed to a knee, rising to a considerable
height before it ; and the many stout stays fastened at the head,
stern, and sides, sufficiently secured it. and compensated for the
great pressure of the heavy yards and sails it carried. [The
braces and stays were fastened to the gunwale, as in the modern
1 Woodcut No. 407.
Plin. xvi. 40.
3 Ibid. viii. 9
Chap. IX. I
SHIPS. —RIGGING.
225
boats of the Nile, which agrees with the description of Hero
(lotus, that other people fasten the ropes, etc., on the outside,
the Greeks on the inside of their boats. ^
I have observed that in ships of war the yard was allowed to
remain aloft after the sail had been reefed ; but in the boats of
the Nile, which had a yard at the top and bottom of the sail,
as soon as it was furled, the}' lowered the upper yard, and in
this position it remained until they again prepared for their
departure. To loosen the sail from the lower yard must have
been a tedious operation, if it was bound to it with the many
lacings represented in some of the paintings ; but in these
cases it may have been folded up between the two yards as
soon as the upper one was lowered ; the whole Ijeing lashed
together by an outer rope.
It is uncertain whether they used pulleys for raising and
lowering the yards, or if the halliards merely passed through a
dead-sheave-hole at the top of the mast.^ The yards were evi-
No. 412.
Pulley.
Museum at LeycJen.
dently of very great size and of two separate pieces, scarfed or
joined together at the middle,^ sometimes supported by five or
six lifts, and so firmly secured that men could stand or sit upon
them while engaged in arranging the sail ; and from the upper
yard were suspended several ropes, resembling the horses of our
square-rigged ships,"* and perhaps intended for the same purpose
when they furled the sail. The Egyptians, however, were not
ignorant of the pulley ; and I am inclined to believe they intro-
duced it in the rigging of their boats ; though, owing to their
imperfect style of drawing, it is not indicated ; and one has
actually been found in Egypt, and is now in the Museum at
Leyden. It is, however, of uncertain date, and was apparently in-
tended for drawino- water from a well. The sides are of athid or
1 Herodot. ii. 36.
2 Woodcut No. 412.
3 Woodcut No. 411, h.
4 Woodcut No. 411, g g.
15
226 THE A^X'IENT EGYPTIANS. fCnAP. IX.
tamarisk wood,i the roller of fir ; ami the rope of leef or fibres of
the date-tree, which belonged to it, was round at the same time.
Many of the sails were painted with rich colors,^ or em-
broidered with fanciful devices, representing the phoenix,
flowers and various emblems ; some were adorned with checks,
and others were striped, like those of the j^resent day. This
kind of cloth, of embroidered linen, appears to have been made
in Egypt expressly for sails, and was bought by the Tyrians ^
for that purpose ; but its use was confined to the pleasure-boats
of the grandees, or of the king himself, ordinary sails being
white ; and the ship, says Pliny,'* in which Antony and Cleo-
patra went to the battle of Actium, w^as distinguished from the
rest of the fleet by its purple sails, which were the peculiar
privilege of the admiral's vessel. The same writer states that
the custom of dyeing the sails of ships was first adopted in the
fleet of Alexander the Great, when navigating the Indus ; but
that it was practised long before in Egypt is evident from tlie
paintings at Thebes, which represent sails richly ornamented
with various colors, in the time of the third Rameses, nine
hundred years previous to the age of Alexander.
The devices with which they were painted or embroidered
depended on fancy, and the same monarch had ships with sails
of different i^atterns. Of all these the phoenix appears to have
been the most appropriate emblem, if, as is stated by Hora-
pollo,^ it indicated 'the return of a traveller who had long been
absent from his country ; ' and it is probable that the boats used
in sacred festivals upon the Nile were decorated with appro-
priate symbols, according to the nature of the ceremony, or
the deity in whose service they were engaged. The edges of
tlie sail were furnished with a strong hem or border, also
neatly colored, serving to strengthen it and prevent an injury,
and a light rope was generally sewed round it for the same
purpose.
Some of the Egyptian vessels a])pear to have been of very
great size.'' Diodorus " mentions one of cedar wood, dedicated
by Sesostris to the god of Thebes, 280 cubits, or 420 feet, long;
anotiier built ])y Caligula in Egyj^t, to transport one of the
■ Tamarix nrientalis. ■* Plin. \i\. 1.
- Tlie sails of our own vessels, in the » IlorapoU. Hiei'ojrl. lib. i. c. 35.
fifteenth oentury, had coats-ol'-arnis em- c Conf. I lor. 1 EjkkI. i. 1, referring to
lilazoned upon thcni, if we may trust the the lar<,'e ships of M. Antony,
official seals of the admirals. ' Diodor. i. 57.
•* Ezek. x.vvii.7. Vide suprit, p. 213, note S-
Chap. IX.] SHIPS. 227
obelisks to Rome, carried 120,000 modii (pecks) of lentils as
l)allast ; ^ and Ptolemy Philopator built one of 40 benches of oars,
which was 420 feet long, and 72 from the keel to the top of the
poop, and carried 400 sailors, besides 4000 rowers, and near oOOO
soldiers.^ Athenseus mentions this vessel of Philopator, and
says it had 40 benches, was 280 cubits (420 feet) long, and 38
broad; the poop stood 53 cubits above the water. It had four
rudders, 30 cubits long ; the longest oars were 38 cubits, and were
poised by lead at the handles, so as to make them manageable,
&c. It had more than 4000 rowers, 2850 marines, besides a
crowd of other men. He also mentions one on the Nile, built
by Philopator, of a large size.
Of the origin of navigation no satisfactory conjecture can be
offered, nor do we know to what nation to ascribe the merit of
having conferred so important a benefit on mankind. It is
evident that the first steps were slow and gradual, and that the
earliest attempts to construct vessels on the sea were rude and
imperfect. Ships of burden were originally mere rafts, made of
the trunks of trees bound together, over which planks were
fastened, which Pliny states to have been first used on the Red
Sea ; ^ but he is wrong in limiting the era of ship-building to
the age of Danaus, and in supposing that rafts alone were
employed until that period. Rafts were adopted, even to carry
goods, long after the invention of ships, as they still are for
some purposes on rivers and other inland waters ; but boats
made of hollow trees and various materials, covered with hides
or pitch, were also of very early date, and to those may be
ascribed the origin of planked vessels. Improvement followed
improvement ; and in proportion as civilization advanced, the
inventive genius of man was called forth to push on an inven-
tion^ so essential to those communities where the advantages of
commerce were understood, and numerous causes contributed to
1 Plin. xvi. 40; and xxxvi. 9. i-oyal naval coni?tnictoi- of the time of tlie
- Plut. Life of Demetrius. Athenseus Pyramids, apparently as old as the 4tli
Dei|in. lil). v. p. 203. Pliny (vii. 5fi) says Dynasty, made of rrranite, and in the
it had fifty benches; and he mentions British Museum. (' Guide to the Eji'vptian
another of" Ptolemy Philadelphus with Oallei-ics, Vestibule, &c.. p. 19, No." lOn )
forty. He is represented seated on a stool or chair ;
3 Plin. vii. 57. The Phcenicians were in his left hand he holds the lioat-bnilder's
supposed to have come from the Red Sea, adze, the blade of which is over his left
and to have settled on the coasts of the shoulder. He held the hiudi office or
Mediterranean. (Herodot. i. Strabo, lib. position of suten rev, or ' roval relative.' —
i. P.2».) S. B. ^
•* There is a very early statue of a
228 THE ANCIENT EGYPTIANS. IChap. IX.
the origin of navigatioii, and the construction of vessels for
traversing the sea.^
Curiosity may have prompted those who lived on the coast to
visit a neighboring island ; or the desire of conc^uest, to cross a
narrow channel, to invade a foreign land, as Pliny observes in
the case of the Trojans. But it is more probable that the occu-
pation of the fisherman was the principal cause and promoter of
this useful art: those who at first emplo^'ed themselves merely
on a sheltered river venturing at length in the same boat upon
the sea, and, having acquired confidence from habit, extending
their excursions along the coast ; for it was long before the art
of navigation was so far improved that the boldest mariner
dared to trust his vessel out of sight of land.
The first sea-voyages of which we have any direct notice are
those undertaken by the Egyptians at the early period when they
led colonies into Greece ; but the people to whom the art of
navigation was most indebted, wdio excelled all others in nautical
skill, and who carried the spirit of adventure far beyond any
contemporary nation, were the Phoenicians ; and those bold
navigators even visited the coast of Britain in quest of tin.
The fleets of Sesostris and the third Rameses certainly date
from a very remote age, and some Phcenician sailors sent by
Necho 2 on a voyage of discovery to ascertain the form of the
African continent, actually doubled the Cape of Good Hope,
about twenty-one centuries before the time of Bartholomew
Diaz, and Vasco da Gama ; but it was not till the discovery of
the compass ^ that navigation became perfected, and the uncer-
tain method of ascertaining the course by the stars'* gave place
to the more accurate calculations of modern times.
After the fall of Tyre and the building of Alexandria, Egypt
1 The Ef^vptian boats had often a pym- formed the Egyptian squadron at Sahunis,
bolic eve, that of Horns, Turn, or Shu, and the Hect at Actinni. — S. B.
the principal solar deities of Ej: ypt, painted - Pliny mentions others who performed
at the sides, the object of wjiich is nn- this voyaj;e (lib. ii. 67).
known. Althouj^h under the Pharaohs ^ The Chinese used the compass at a
the war-vessels had only cnie bank of oars, very eai'ly period; and jShireo Polo proli-
the invention or use of the double-banked ably introduced it from China, about 1290
jialley, the bireme, by the Phrenicians, at a.d"., twelve years before C;ioia of Amalti,
the time of Sennacherib, about B.C. 701, its supposed inventor. The loadstone
led to the adoption of the trireme, which {HeracJius lapis) was different from the
Necho, B.C. 610, constructed in his dock- J/«(7«e<is of Theophrastus (On Stones, 73),
yards on the Red Sea, and which went as is explained l)v Hesyehins. Plutarch
throufjch his canal, made wide enou^ih for says the loadstone was mentioned by
two to pass one another. Tlie trireme Manetho (de Isid. s. 02).
continued to be the war-vessel of Etrypt •• llom. Odyss. f, 272.
under the Persians and Ptolemies, antl
€iTA.p. IX.] COMMERCE.— TIN. 229
became famous as a commercial country and the emporium of the
East ; the riches of India, brought to Berenice, Myos-Hormos,
and other ports on the Red Sea, passed through it, to be distri-
buted over various parts of the Roman empire ; and it continued
to benefit by these advantages until a new route was opened to
India by the Portuguese, round the Cape of Good Hope.
It is difficult to explain how, at that early period, so great
a value came to be attached to tin that the Phcenicians should
have thought it worth while to undertake a voyage of such a
length, and attended with so much risk, in order to obtain it ;
even allowing that a high price was paid for this commodity
in Egypt and other countries, where the different branches of
metallurgy were carried to great perfection. It was mixed with
other metals, particularly copper, which was hardened b}^ an
alloy of tin, and was employed, according to Homer, for the
raised work on the exterior of shields,^ as in that of Achilles ;
for making greaves,^ and binding various parts of defensive ar-
mor,^ as well as for household* and ornamental purposes, and,
which is very remarkable, the word kassiteros^ used by the poet
to designate it, is the same as the Arabic kasdeer,^ by
which the metal is still known in the East, being probably
derived from the ancient Phcenician.
We have no means of ascertaining the exact period when
the Phoenicians first visited our coasts in search of tin ; some
have supposed about the year 400 or 450 before our era ; but
that this metal was employed many ages previously is shown
from the bronze vessels^ and implements discovered at Thebes
and other parts of Egypt. It cannot, however, be inferred that
the mines of Britain were known at that remote period, since the
intercourse with India may have furnished the Egyptians with
tin ; and the Phcenicians probably obtained it from Spain ' and
India long before they visited those distant coasts, and dis-
1 Horn. II. xviii. 565, 574. 5 Jt will be observed that the accent in
2 lb. xviii. 612. the Greek is over the same part of the
3 lb. xviii. 474. word, Kao-o-irfoo;. It is, I trust, unnecessary
* No copper vessels have yet been found, to observe that the ancient Greeks pro-
even of Roman time, washed with tin, and nounced accordinjr to accent, as they now
few only with silver. Several o-ih have do in Greece, or to point out the origin of
been met with in E^npt, (ireece, and Italy. those marks
Dioscorides mentions tinned boilers (lib. 6 Bronze is made of copper and tin:
i. ~c. 38). He is supposed to have been brass, of copper and zinc,
physician to Antony and Cleopatra, or to ' The mines of Spain and Portugal pro-
have lived in the time of Xero. (Also duce very little tin. There are some in
Plin. xxxiv. 17, on the tinning of copper Saxony and Bohemia. Those of Malacca
vessels.) are very productive.
230 THE ANCIENT EGYPTIANS. [Chap. IX,
covered the richness of our productive mines. ^ Ezekiel, indeed,
expressly says that the Tyriaiis received tin, as well as other
metals, from Tarshish ; which, whether it was situated, as some
suppose, in Arabia,^ or on the Indian coast, traded in the pro-
ductions of the latter country : and the lamentation ^ of the
prophet on the fall of Tyre, though written as late as the year
588 before our era, relates to a commercial intercourse with that
place, which had been established, and continued to exist, from
a much earlier period."^
It is probable that the Phoenicians supplied the Egyptians,
with this article, even before it was brought from Spain and
Britain. The commercial intercourse of the two nations dated
from a most remote epoch ; ^ the produce and coasts of Arabia
and India appear to have been known to the Phoenicians long
before any other people ; and some have even supposed that
they migrated from the Red Sea to the shores of Syria.*^
That the productions of India already came to Egypt at the
early period of Joseph's arrival in the country is evident from
the spices which the Ishmaelites " were carrying to sell there ;
and the amethysts, haematite,^ lapis-lazuli, and other objects^
found at Thebes, of the time of the third Thothmes and suc-
ceeding Pharaohs, argue that the intercourse was constantly
kept up.
The hrst mention of tin, though not the earliest proof of its
use, is in connection with the spoils taken by the Israelites from
the people of Midian, in the year 1452 B.C., where they are com^
manded by Moses to purify ' the gold and silver, the brass,
the iron^ the tln^ and the lead,' by passing it through the fire.^*^
Its combination with other metals is noticed by Isaiah in the year
760 before our era, who alludes to it as an alloy mixed with
a more valuable substance ; ^^ and Ezekiel ^^ shows that it was used
for this purpose in connection with silver.
1 In the year 1791 about 3000 tons of by Job is one of many proofs of an early
tin were taken from the mines of Corn- intercourse with India. (Job. xxii. 24.)
wall, of which 2200 tons weVe sold in the ^ Herodot. i. 1.
European market for I'll, each, the re- ^ Ibid.
maining' 800 beinji- sent to India and China " (ien. xxxvii. 25.
at 62^. a ton. (Univ. Diet, of Arts and 8 This kind of iron ore is found also in
Sciences, Tin.) Spain, Italy, Germany, and England.
2 Bruce supposed it to be Mokha. '■* I mipht, perhaps, add sidcrite.
3 Ezek. xxvii. 12 : * Tarshish was thy i^' Numb. xxxi. 22. Tin in Hebrew i*
merchant by reason of tlie multitude of all calleil bedeel i"'T3'
kind of riches ; with silver, iron, tin, and ,, r • ■ '• -.-" '
lead, they traded in thy fairs.' '^ Is-ma\^ i. 2o : 'I will . . .. purge
4 The" gold of Opliir being mentioned away thy dross, and take away all thy tin.
^- Ezek. xxii. IS, 20: 'They are brass»
CuAi'. IX.l COMMERCE. — TIN. 231
Strabo, Diodorus, Pliny, and other writers mention certain
islands discovered by the Phcenicians, which, from the quantity
of tin they produced, obtained the name Cassite rides ; and are
supposed to have been the cluster now known as the Scilly Isles,
and to have included part of the coast of Cornwall itself.^ The
secret of their discovery was carefully concealed, says Strabo,'-^
from all other persons, and the Phoenician vessels continued to
sail from Gades, the present Cadiz, in quest of this commodity,
without its being known from whence they obtained it ; though
many endeavors were made by the Romans at a subsequent
period to ascertain the secret, and to share the benefits of this
lucrative trade.
So anxious, indeed, were the Phcenicians to retain their
monopoly, that on one occasion, when a Roman vessel pursued
a trader bound to the spot, tlie latter purposely steered his
vessel on the shoal, preferring to suffer shipwreck, provided he
involved his pursuers in the same fate, to the disclosure of his
country's secret. His artifice succeeded : the Roman crew, ex-
posed to additional risk in consequence of being unprepared
for the sudden catastrophe, were all lost with their foundered
vessel, and the Phcenician, having the good fortune to escape
with his life, was awarded from the public treasury for his de-
votion and the sacrifice he had made.''^
Pliny mentions a report of ' white lead,' or tin, being brought
from certain islands of the Atlantic ; yet he treats it as a 'fable,'
and proceeds to state that it was found in Lusitania and Gallicia,
and was the same metal ■* known to the Greeks in the days of
Homer by the name Jcassiteros ; ^ but Diodorus and Strabo, after
noticing- the tin of Spain and the Cassitericles, afiirm that it was
also brought to Massilia (Marseilles) from the coast of Britain.*^
Spain in early times was to the Phoenicians what America at
a later period was to the Spaniards ; and no one can read the
accounts of the immense wealth derived from the mines of that
country, in the writings of Diodorus and other authors, without
being struck bv the relative situation of the Phoenicians and
and tin, and iron, and lead, in the midst stannum of Pliny, or the Icassite'ros of
of the furnace; they are even the dross of Homer, bein<; tin. Pliny's account of
silver.' stannum is obscure.
1 Reckmann and Borlase are also of this 5 p]in. \-\-\-v. 16. He places the Cas-
opinion. siterides otf the coast of Celtiberia (lib. iv.
- Strabo. lib. iii. ad Jin. p. 121. 22).
•^ Ibid. ' 0 Strabo, lib. iii. p. 101, and Diodor v,
' Heckmann, in his ' History of Inven- 38.
tions ' (vol. iv. pp. 10, 20), doubts the
232 THE ANCIENT EGYPTIANS. |Ciiap. IX.
ancient Spaniards, and the followers ol' ( 'ortes or Pizarro aiul the
inhabitants of Mexico or Peru.
'The whole of S[)ain/ says Strabo, 'alxninds with iniiies . . .
and in no country are gold, silver, copper, and iron in siicli abun-
dance or of such good (^ualit}^ : even the rivers and torrents bring-
down gold in their beds, and some is found in the sand: ' and
the fanciful assertion of Posidonius, regarding tlie richness of
the country in precious metals, surpassed the })hantonis created
in the minds of the conquerors of America.
The Phoenicians purchased gold, silver, tin, and other metals
from the inhabitants of Spain and the Cassiterides by giving in
exchange earthenware vessels, oil, salt, bronze instruments, and
other objects of little value, in the same manner as the Spaniards
on their arrival at Hispaniola; and such was the abundance
of silver that, after loading their shi2:)s with full cargoes, they
stripped the lead from their anchors, and substituted the same
weight of silver.
[It is uncertain if tin were known to the Egyptians at the
earliest period, for a small curved object, apparently the end of
the handle of a tool or weapon, found in one of the air-passages
of the great Pyramid, was copper. Other tools recently dis-
covered at Tel el Yahoudeh were also of that metal. There is,
however, no doubt about the use of tin in the composition of
bronze at an early period ; and five objects of the Passalacqua
Collection, now at Berlin, analyzed by Vauquelin, gave 85 parts
of copper, 14 of tin, and about 1 of iron,^ enough however to show
the knowledge of tin or of tin ores, for it is possible that bronze
may have been produced from them, and not the pure metal, by
the Egyptians. Various metals, indeed, are mentioned in the dif-
ferent texts, papyri, and inscriptions, but it is not quite certain
if tin is one of them. A metal or material, perhaps tin,^ is placed
in certain lists of substances, after lead. That it was known in
its pure state at a later period is clear from the plates of it en-
graved with the symbolic eye placed over the Hank incisions of
a mummy. These when bent give the crepitating sound peculiar
to thi. — S. B.]
1 Diodor. lib. V. 35. rus, aiuoiiirst the lists of offerinirs of
2 PassalacciUii, ' C'ataloi,aic vaisonno,' Ramcsi^s III. (pl. 10, G, 1. 14 ; ' Reconls ot'
Paris, KS'_'(), pp. '2.'?S. '.'.'{il. the Past,' vol. vi. p. (59). Some in;:ots or
T f\ |\ ^ plates of tiiis metal, leaden colored, are
^ It is called 81 / /I t'ehi •iiul represented in the tomb of Itekhmara. —
jl SS I I I S. B.
is uieiilioiied in tlie jrreat Harris papy-
Ctiap. IX.j METAL-WORKING. — GOLD. 233
A strong evidence of the skill of tlie Egyptians in working
metals, and of the early advancement they made in this art,
is derived from their success in the management of different
alloys ; which, as M. Goguet observes,^ is further argued from
the casting of the golden calf, and still more from Moses being
able to burn the metal and reduce it to powder — a secret which
he could only have learnt in Egypt.^ It is said in Exodus,^ that
' Moses took the calf which they had made, and burnt it in the
fire, and ground it to powder, and strewed it npon the water,
and made the children of Israel drink of it ; ' an operation
Avhich, according to the French savant, 'is known by all who
work in metals to be very difficult.'
'Commentators' heads,' he adds, 'have been much perplexed
to ex})lain how Moses burnt and reduced tlie gold to powder.
^Nlany have offered vain and improbable conjectures; but an
experienced chemist has removed every difticulty npon the sub-
ject, and luis suggested this simple process. In the place of
tartaric acid, which we employ, the Hebrew legislator used
natron, which is common in the East, What follows, respecting
liis making the Israelites drink this powder, proves that he
was })erfectly acquainted with the whole effect of the operation.
He wished to increase the punishment of their disobedience,
and notliing could have been more suitable ; for gold reduced
and made into a draught, in the manner I have mentioned, has
a most disagreeable taste.'
The use of gold, for jewellery and various articles of luxury,
dates from the most remote ages. Pharaoh having ' arrayed ' ■*
Joseph 'in vestures of fine linen, put a gold chain about his
neck ; and the jewels of silver and gold borrowed from the
Egyptians by the Israelites ^ at the time of their leaving Egypt
(out of which the golden calf was afterwards made ^ ) suffice to
}»r()ve the great quantity of precious metals wrought at that
time into female ornaments. It is not from the Scriptures alone
that the skill of the Egyptitui goldsmiths may be inferred ; the
sculptures of Thebes and Beni-Hassan afford their additional
1 Goguet, ' Oi-ifjine des Lois, des Arts, heat of 550^ Falir., the former only of
et des Sciences,' tome ii. liv. 2, eh. iv. 420^.
Ps 145. 3 Exod. xxxii. 20.
2 Goguet is wronLT in supposing that the ■* This custom of conferrinjj rank by
smelting of tin is one of the most difficult presenting a suitable dress (or kisweh)
operations in metallurgy (tome ii. liv. still continues in the East.
2, ch. iv. p. 146). Tin melts more read- ° Exod. iii. 22, and xii. 35.
il}' than lead: the hitter requires a G Exod. \\\ii 2. .3.
234
THE AXCIENT EGYPTIANS.
[Chap. IX.
Chap. IX. 1
METAL-WORKING. — GOLD.
235
testimony ; and the numerous gold and silver vases, inlaid work,
and jewellery, represented in common use, show the great ad-
1 tu
Ko. 414.
/, y, are articles of jewellery.
2 3 c 4
Golilsmiths. Thehes.
The hieroglyphics read men^.i-b, 'goldsmith,' or worker
iu gold.'
vancement they had alread}" made, at a remote period, in this
branch of art.
The engraving of gold, the mode of casting it, and inlaying it
with stones, were evidently
known at the same time ; they
are mentioned in the Bible, ^
and numerous specimens of
this kind of work have been
found in Egypt.
The origin of the sign
signifying '•gold,' has been
happily explained by the in-
genious Champollion : as the
bozvl ^ in which the metal was
washed, the doth through
which it was strained, and the droppinr/ of the wafer, united into
one character, at once indicative of the process and the metal.
Much cannot, of course, be expected from the objects found
in the excavated tombs to illustrate the means emploj'ed in
smelting the ore, or to disclose any of the secrets the}^ possessed
in metallurgy ; and little is given in the paintings, beyond
the use of the blowpipe, the forceps,^ and their mode of concen-
Blowpipe, c, and small fireplace with checks to
No. 415. confine and reflect the heat. Thebes.
- 1 Exod. xxxii. 4. Aaron 'fashioned it
■with a gravinfj tool, after lie had made it
a molten calf.' On enyravinir and setting
stones, see Exod. xxviii. 9 and 11.
2 Or the frame over which the cloth
was laid. Woodcut Xo. 414 Jig. a. It
rather represents a particular kind of
' collar,' called neh, the same as the word
'gold.' — S. B.
3 Bronze forceps, tongs, and tweezers
have been found, retaining their spring
l)erfectly.
236 THE ANCIENT EGYPTIANS. [Chap. IX.
trating heat, by raising checks of metal round three sides of the
tire in which tl)e crucibles were placed. Of the latter, indeed,
there is no indication in these subjects, unless it be in a pre-
ceding woodcut ; ^ but their use is readily suggested, and some
which have been found in Egypt are preserved in the Berlin
Museum. They are nearly live inches in diameter at the mouth,
and about the same in depth, and })resent the ordinary form and
appearance of those used at the present day.
From the mention of earrings and bracelets, and jewels of
silver and gold, in the days of Aljraham,''^ it is evident that in
Asia as well as in Egypt the art of metallurgy was knoA^n at a
very remote period ; and workmen of the same countries are
noticed by Homer ^ as excelling in the manufacture of arms, rich
vases, and other objects inlaid or ornamented with metals. His
account of the shield of Achilles * i)roves the art of working the
various substances of which it was made — copper, tin, gold, and
silver — to have been well understood at that time ; and the skill
required to represent the infinity of subjects he mentions was
such as no ordinary artisan could possess ; and unless similar
works had been already made, the poet would not have ventured
on the description he has given.
The ornaments in gold found in Egypt consist of rings,
bracelets, armlets, necklaces, earrings, and numerous trinkets
belonging to the toilet ; many of which are of the eari}' times of
1 2 3
No. 416. Golden baskets represeuteil in the tomb of King Ranieses III. Thebes.
Usertesen I. and Thot'hmes HI., the contemporaries of Joseph
and of Moses. Gold and silver vases, statues, and otlier objects
of gold and silver, of silver inlaid with gold, and of bronze inlaid
with the precious metals, were also common at the same time ;
and besides those manufactured in the country from the produce
of their own mines,^ the Egyptians exacted an annual tribute
1 Woodcut No. 413, c. * Horn. II. xviii. 474.
- Gen. xxiv. 47, ii3. ^ Diodoriis mentions tlie silver mines of
3 Iloni. II. X. 741. A silver cup, the E^ypt, wiiich prottuced 3200 myriads of
work of the Ridonians, Od. A, fihS, etc. mi nsv, but 1 am not aware of their position.
Vide II. B 872, H 236, the armor of Diodor. i. 49, and infra, p. 239 and foil.
Glaucus.
Chap. IX. 1 METAL-WORKING. — GOLD. 237
from the conquered provinces of Asia and Africa, in gold and
silver, and in vases made of those materials.
I have frequently had occasion to notice the elegance of the
Egyptian vases, whether of gold or other materials. Many other
objects were equally graceful in their form and the devices
which ornamented them ; and among these I may cite the
golden baskets in the tomb of Rameses, which in their shape
call to mind our European bread-baskets.
[Various objects of gold are described in the Egyptian in-
scriptions, and the word ' gold ' appears at the earliest period,
and great quantities must have been used at the time of the 12th
Dynasty. The tributes of the 18th Dynasty also record and
represent the c[Uotas or presents of gold sent by the Ethiopians
and Asiatic nations to Egypt. The gold which Rameses III.
gave to the principal cities and temples of Egypt is detailed in
the great Harris papyrus : the gold is classed as gold ore, gold
of the balance, best gold, gold of the second quality, and white
gold (apparently electrum, distinguished from silver, which is
afterwards mentioned ).i The gold was also used for gold crowns,
collars, rings, and other ornaments or decorations ; silver was
chiefly employed for vases. The gold principally came from
Kush or ^Ethiopia ; the silver from Asia. — S. B.]
At Beni-Hassan the process of washing the ore, smelting, or
fusing the metal with the help of the blow-pipe, and fashioning
it for ornamental purposes, weighing it, taking an account of
the quantity so made up, and other occupations of the goldsmith,
are represented ; but, as might be supposed, these subjects merely
suffice as they were intended, to give a general indication of
the goldsmith's trade, without attempting to describe the means
employed.^
The gold mines of Egypt, though mentioned by Agatharcides
and later writers, and worked even by the Arab caliphs, long-
remained unknown, and their position has only been ascertained
a few years since by M. Linant and Mr. Bonomi. They lie in
the Bisharee desert, or, as Edreesee and Aboolfeda call it, the
land of Biga^ or Boja, about seventeen or eighteen days' jour-
ney to the southeastward from Derow, which is situated on
the Nile, a little above Kom Ombo, the ancient Ombos.
1 'Records of the Past,' vi. 21 and foil. ; 3 Bi?ah H^J or Bejrjra is the name
11. 6 and foil. ^ * • ^^
~ Woodcut No. 413. which the Bishareen Arabs give them-
selves.
238 THE ANCIENT EGYPTIANS. [Chap. IX.
Those two travellers met with some Cufic funeral inscrip-
tions there, which from their dates show that the mines were
worked in the years 339 a.h. (951 a.d.) and 378 a.h. (989 a.d.) ;
the former being in the fifth year of the Caliph Mostukfee Billah,
a short time before the arrival of the Fatemites in Egypt, the
latter in the fourteenth of El Azeez, the second of the P'atemite
dynasty.
They continued to be worked until a much later period, and
were afterwards abandoned, the value of the gold, as Aboolfeda
states,! barely covering the expenses ; nor did Mohammed Ali,
who sent to examine them and obtain specimens of the ore, find
it worth while to reopen them.
The matrix is quartz ; and so diligent a search did the Egyp-
tians establish throughout the whole of the deserts east of the
Nile for this precious metal, that I never remember to have seen
a vein of quartz in any of the primitive ranges there which had
not been carefully examined by their miners ; certain portions
having been invariably picked out from the fissures in which it
lay, and broken into small fragments. At a spot near the quar-
ries of breccia verde^ on the road from Coptos to Kossayr, the
working of quartz veins has been carried on to such an extent
and on so grand a scale, the houses of the miners are so numer-
ous, the consequence of the place so strongly argued by the
presence of a small stone temple bearing the name and sculptures
of Ptolemy Euergetes I., and the length of time the workmen
inhabited it so distinctly proved by the large mounds of broken
pottery found there, from which the valley has derived the name
of Wadee Foakheer, that I cannot suppose their labors to have
been confined to the mere cutting of tazzi^ sarcophagi, fonts,
vases, columns, and similar objects from the breccia quarries,
which, too, are distant three miles from the spot; and the number
of 1320 huts, which I counted in the different windings of the
Wadee Foakheer, containing far more workmen than the quarries
would require, appears conclusive respecting the object they had
in view, and suggests that they had succeeded in finding gold
here also, though probably in far less quantities than in the
mines of the more southerly district.
The gold mines are said by Aboolfeda to be situated at El
Allaga, or Ollagce ; but Eshuranib, or Eshuanib, the principal
1 Aboolfedu's ' Description of Egypt,' s. 68.
CiiAP. IX.] GOLD MIXES. 239
place, is about three days' journey beyond Wadee Allaga, accord-
inof to Mr. Bonomi, to whom I am indebted foi' the following^
account of the mines: 'The direction of the excavations de-
pends,' as Diodorus states, ' on that of the strata in which the ore
is found, and the position of the various shafts differ accordingly.
As to the manner, of extracting the metal, some notion may be
given by a description of the ruins at Eshuranib, the largest
station, where sufficient remains to explain the process they
adopted. The principal excavation, according to M. Linant's
measurement, is about 180 feet deep : it is a narrow, oblique
chasm, reaching a considerable way down the rock. In the
valley, near the most accessible part of the excavation, are several
huts, built of the unhewn fragments of the surrounding hills,
their walls not more than breast high, perhaps the houses^ of the
excavators or the guardians of the mine ; and separated from
them by the ravine or course of the torrent is a group of houses,
about 300 in number, laid out very regularly in straight lines.
In those nearest the mines lived the workmen who were em-
ployed to break the quartz into small fragments, the size of a
bean, from whose hands the pounded stone passed to the persons
who ground it in hand-mills, similar to those now used for corn
in the valley of the Nile, made of a granitic stone, one of which
is to be found in almost every house at these mines, either entire
or broken.
'The quartz thus reduced to powder was washed on inclined
tables, furnished with two cisterns, all built of fragments of stone
collected there ; and near these inclined planes are generally
found little white mounds, the residue of the operation. Besides
the numerous remains of houses in this station, are two large
buildings, with towers at the angles, built of the hard blackish
granitic, yet luminous, rock that prevails in the district. The
valley has many trees, and in a high part of the torrent bed is
a sort of island, or isolated bank, on which we found many tomb-
stones, some written in the ancient Cufic character, very similar
to those at E'Souan.'
Such is the description Mr. Bonomi has been kind enough to
send me of the gold mines of Allaga ; and as Diodorus's account
of the mining operations, and the mode of extracting the gold, is
highly interesting, I shall introduce some extracts from his work.
The historian states that those who worked in the mines were
1 Similar huts arc met with at all the quarries and mines of these deserts.
240 THE ANCIENT EGYPTIANS. [Chap. IX.
principally captives taken in war, and men condemned to hard
labor for crimes, or in consequence of offences against the
government. They were bound in fetters, and obliged to work
night and day ; every chance of escape being carefully obviated
by the watchfulness of the guards, who, in order that persuasion
might not be used to induce them to relax in their duty, or feel-
ings of compassion be excited for the sufferings of their fellow-
countrymen, were foreign soldiers, ignorant of the Egyptian
language.
Whether this system was introduced by the Ptolemies and
the latter Pharaohs, or was always carried on in the earliest
times, it is difficult to say, Diodorus contining his remarks to the
state of the mines during his own time. ' The soil,' says the
historian, 'naturally black,Ms traversed with veins of marble ^of
excessive whiteness, surpassing in brilliancy the most shining
substances ; out of which the overseers cause the gold to be dug
by the labor of a vast multitude of people ; for the kings of
Egypt condemn to the mines notorious criminals, prisoners of
'wai\ persons convicted by false accusations or the victims of
resentment.^ And not only the individuals themselves, but some-
times even their whole family are doomed to this labor, with
the view of punishing the guilty, and profiting by their toil.
' The vast numbers employed in these mines are bound in fet-
ters, and compelled to work day and niglit without intermission,
and without the least hope of escape, for they set over them
barbarian soldiers, who speak a foreign language, so that there is
no possibility of conciliating them by persuasion, or the kind
feelings which result from familiar converse.
' When the earth containing the gold is hard they soften it
by the application of fire ; and when it has been reduced to such
a state that it yields to moderate labor, several thousands
(myriads) of these unfortunate people break it up with iron
picks. Over the whole work presides an engineer, who views
and selects the stone, and points it out to the laborers. The
strongest of them, provided with iron chisels, cleave the marble
sliining rock by mere force, without any attempt at skill ; and in
excavating the shafts below ground they follow the direction of
the shining stratum without keeping in a straiglit line.
1 The rock in wliifli tlie veins of quartz to the quartz, which is the matrix of the
run is an ar^ilhiceous schist. ore.
2 Diodor. iii. 11. He evidently alludes ■^ Alore probably of false accusations.
CuAP. IX. I GOLD MINES. 241
' 111 order to see in these dark windings they fasten b.raps to
their foreheads, having their bodies painted, sometimes of one
and sometimes of another color, according to the nature of the
rock ; and as they cut tlie stone it falls in masses an the floor,
tlie overseers urging them to the work with commands and blows.
Tliey are followed by little boys, who take away the fragments
as they fall, and carry them out into the open air. Those who
are above thirty years of age are employed to pound pieces of
the stone, of certain dimensions, with iron pestles in stone mor-
tars, until reduced to the size of a lentil. 1. is then transferred
to women and old men, who put it into mills arranged in a long
row, two or three persons being employed at the same mill, and
it is ground until reduced to a fine powder.
'No attention is paid to their persons: they have not even a
piece of rag to cover themselves ; and so wretched is their con-
dition that every one who witnesses it deplores the excessive
misery they endure. No rest, no intermission from toil, are
given either to the sick or maimed : neither the weakness of
age, nor women's infirmities are regarded ; all are driven to
their work with the lash, till, at last, overcome with the intol-
erable weight of their afflictions, they die in the midst of their
toil. So that these unhappy creatures always expect worse to
come than what they endure at present, and long for death as
far preferable to life.
' At length the masters take the stone thus ground to powder
and carry it away to undergo the final process. They spread it
upon a broad table a little inclined, and, pouring water upon it,
rub the pulverized stone until all the earthy matter is separated,
which, flowing away with the water, leaves the heavier particles
behind on the board. This operation is often repeated, the stone
being rubbed lightly with the hand : they then draw up the
useless and earthy substance with fine sponges, gently applied,
until the gold comes out quite pure. Other workmen then take
it away by weight and measure, and putting it with a fixed pro-
portion of lead, salt, a little tin, and barley bran into earthen
crucibles well closed with clay, leave it in a furnace for five
successive days and nights; after which it is suffered to cool.
The crucibles are then opened, and nothing is found in tliem
but the pure gold, a little diminished in quantity.
' Such is the method of extracting the gold on the confines
of Egypt, the result of so many and such great toils. Nature
indeed, I think, teaches that as gold is obtained with immense
VOL. II. 16
242 THE ANCIENT EGYPTIANS. [Chap. IX,
labor, so it is kept with difficulty, creating great anxiety, and
attended in its use both with pleasure and grief.'
[At the time of the 12th Dynasty the search for gold and the
working of the mines is already recorded. Ameni, a prince and
officer of the reign of Usertesen I., states that he had escorted
the gold from the mines to Coptos. Under the 19th Dynasty
the mines of Rhedesieh, at a place called the Wady Abbas, had
been extensively worked, and an account of them has been dis-
covered on the temple there. Another inscription of importance
has been found at Kuban, on the eastern bank of the Nile, oppo-
site to Dakkeh or Contra-Pselcis. The inscriptions of Seti I.
mention the workings and endowment of the temples with part
of the produce. The tablet at Kuban records the construction
of a tank or reservoir to supply with water the miners and others
who crossed the desert with asses to reach the mines and brino-
back the gold, and is dated in the 3d year of Rameses. Seti I.,
it appears, had bored a well 120 cubits, or about 190 feet deep,
for the purpose, but did not reach the water. Rameses bored 12
feet deeper, and was rewarded by the water rising. A papyrus
at Turin has a map and plan of these gold mines, the royal
tablet, well, houses of the miners, and roads which led to the
shafts.i — S. B.]
In the early stages of society, when gold first began to be
used, idols, ornaments, or other objects were made of the metal
in its pure state, till being found too soft, and too easily worn
away, an alloy was added to harden it, at the same time that it
increased the bulk of the valuable material. As men advanced
in experience, they found that the great ductility of gold enabled
them to cover substances of all kinds with thin plates of the
metal, giving all the effect of the richness and brilliancy they
admired in solid gold ornaments ; and the gilding of bronze,
stone, silver, and wood was speedily adopted.
The leaves so used were at first thick, but skill, resulting
from experience, soon showed to what a degree of fineness they
could be reduced; and we find that in Egypt substances of
various kinds were overlaid with tine gold leaf at the earliest
periods of which the monuments remain, even in the time of
the first Usertesen. Some things still continued to be covered
with thick leaf, but this was from choice, and not in consequence
1 'Records of the Paoc,' dii. p. b'l. 4to, Paris, 1862; and 'Une Inscription
Chabas, ' Les Inscriptions des Mines d'Or,' historique de Seti I.,' 4to, Chalon, 1856.
Chap. IX.] GOLD-CEATING. 243
of any want of skill in the workmen ; and in the early age of
Thothmes III. they were already acquainted with all the various
methods of applying gold, whether in leaf, or by inlaying, or by
beating it into other metals, previously tooled with devices to
receive it.
That their knowledge of gilding ^ was coeval with the sojourn
of the Israelites in the country is evident from the direct mention
of it in the Bible, the ark of shittim wood made by Moses being
overlaid with pure gold ; and the casting of the metal is noticed
on the same occasion : ^ nor can we doubt that the art was de-
rived by the Jews from Egypt, or that the Egyptians had long
before been acquainted with all those secrets of metallurgy in
which the specimens that remain prove them to have so emi-
nently excelled.
The method devised by the Egyptians for beating out the leaf
is unknown to us ; but from the extreme fineness of some of that
covering wooden and other ornaments found at Thebes, we may
conclude it was done nearly in the same way as formerly in
Europe, between parchments, and perhaps some membrane taken
from the intestines of animals was also employed by them.
In Europe the skin of an unborn calf was at first substituted
for the parchment previously used ; but in the l)eginning of the
seventeenth century the German gold-beaters, having obtained
a fine pellicle from the entrails of cattle,^ found that they could
beat gold much thinner than befoi-e, and this still continues to be
used, an*^ is known to us under the name of gold-beaters' skin.
'About the year 1621,' says Beckmann,'^ ' Merunne excited
general astonishment when he showed that the Parisian gold-
beaters could beat an ounce of gold into sixteen hundred leaves,
which together covered a surface of one hundred and five square
feet. But in 1711, when the pellicles discovered by the Germans
came to be used in Paris, Reaumur found that an ounce of gold
in the form of a cube, five and a quarter lines at most in length,
breadtli, and thickness, and which covered only a surface of about
twenty-seven square lines, could be so extended by the gold-
beaters as to cover a surface of more than 1466 ^ square feet.
1 Pliny mentions the Ivcophoi'on, a com- - Exod. xxv. 11, 12.
position iised for attaching gold to wood. 3 This ' pelle del budello ' is mentioned
(PJin. XXXV. 6.) ' Sinopidis Pontics selibra, by Lancelloti, who wrote in the year
silis lucidi libris x., et melini Gra;ciensis 1636.
duabus mixtis tritisque una, per dies xii., ■* Vide Beckmann's valuable work, the
leiicophoron fit, hoc est, gliitinum auri, ' History of Inventions,' vol. iv., on Gild-
cum iiulucitur ligno. (Thcophrastus, on ing.
Stones, s. 46.)
244 THE ANCIENT EGYPTIANS. [Chap. IX.
This extension, therefore, is nearly one-half more than was pos-
sible about a century before.'
Many gilt bronze vases, implements of various kinds, trinkets,
statues, toys, and other objects, in metal and wood, have been
discovered in the tombs of Thebes - the faces of mummies are
frequently found overlaid with thick gold leaf, the painted
cloth, the wooden coffin, were also profusely ornamented in this
manner ; and the whole body itself of the deceased was some-
times gilded previous to its being enveloped in the bandages.
Not only were small objects appertaining to the service of the
gods, and connected with religion, or articles of luxury and show,
in the temples, tombs, or private houses, so decorated ; the sculp-
tures on the lofty walls of an adytum, the ornaments of a
colossus, the doorways ol the temples, and parts of numerous
large monuments, were likewise covered with gilding ; of which
the wooden heifer, which served as a sepulchre to the body of
king iMyeeriiius's daughter.^ the sculptures at the temple of
Kalabshi in Nubia, the statue of Minerva sent to Cyrene by
Amasis,^ and the Sphinx at the pyramids may be cited as instances.
Gold is supposed by many to have been used^ some time
before silver,'* but the earliest authority, which is that of the
Bible, mentions both these metals at the most remote age. The
Egyptian sculptures represent silver as well as gold in the time
of the third Thothmes, and silver rings have been found of the
same epoch .^ Abraham was said to have been 'very rich, in
cattle, in silver, and in gold ;' *" and the use of silver as money "
is distinctly pointed out in the purchase of the field of Ephron,
with its cave,^ which Abraham bought for ' four hundred shekels
of silver, current money with the merchant.'
On this occasion, as usual, the price ])aid was settled b}'
weight,^ — a custom retained among the Egyjitians, Hebrews, and
other Eastern people till a late period ; and, indeed, until a
1 Herotlot. ii. 129, 132. and ornaments of every epoch are less
Ibic; ii. 182. common tlian jrolcl.
3 Pliny attributes the art of working;' '^ (ion. xiii. 2. But no mention i? made
gold to Cadmus 'vii. i)6). of it as money till after Aliraliam's return
•* [Silver was evidently of later use in from Ejivpt, as Oogiiet has justly observed
Epypt than S'old, silver l)ein^^ called ' white (tom. i. jiv 2, ch. iv.).
,,, A „., . ... , ,, , ' The word silver, t\~'2> is commonlv
gold, rc^. White IS het, and gold 720110, , ' -
'TT' used in Hebrew to signify money, as
Noubket, or simplv het. Hat is white, as (^rg^nt in French [and arian, ' silvei,' in
„.„ ,, , ■ , ., ,_v 7. • TT Welsh signifies ' niijnev.' — G. W.l.
milk was called white; p,i lebn, in He- ^ Gen \\iii 16 1" "
blew i:. 'white,' and lebn thus came to ■' .Job xxviii. 15: 'It (wisdom) cannot
imply ' milk.' — G. W.] be got for gold, neither shall silver be
•'' in the Museum of Alnwick Castle is a umghed for the price thereof.'
silver ring ol Amenophis III. Silver rings
CuAV. IX. I MONEY. — COIXAGE. 245
government stamp, or some fixed value, was given to money : this
could be the only method of ascertaining the price paid, and of
giving satisfaction to both parties. Thus Joseph's brethren, when
they discovered the money returned into their sacks, brought it
back to Egypt, observing that it was ' in full weight ; ' and the
paintings of Thebes frequently represent persons in the act of
weighing ^ gold on the purchase of articles in the market. This
continued to be the custom when rings ^ of gold and silver were
used in Egypt for m 3ney, and even to the time of the Ptolemies,who
established a coinage of gold, silver, and copper in the country.^
These princes were not the tirst who introduced coined money
into Egypt : it had been current there during the Persian occu-
pation of the country ; and Aryandes, who was governor of
Egypt, under Cambyses and Darius, struck silver coins, in imi-
tation of the gold Darics of his sovereign, for which act of pre-
sumption he was condemned to death.^
It is uncertain, as Pliny observes, when and where the art
of stamping money originated, Herodotus attributes it to the
Lydians, ' the first people who coined gold and silver for their
use;'^ Servius TuUius made^ copper money about the year
560 B.C., and impressed upon it the figure of a sheep, peeus,
whence it obtained the name pecunia ; silver was coined at
Athens" 512 years before our era, and at Rome five years before
the first Punic war,^ or 269 B.C. ; ^ and some suppose Phidon, king
of Argos, to have invented weights and measures, and silver
coinage,^^ in the year 895 b.c.^^
The fact of the sheep being impressed upon it seems to agree
with the custom of many people of taking a lamb as the standard
of value. In Ethiopia and Darfoor they reckon a piece of cloth
as equal to a full-grown sheep, and to sixty pounds, which calls
to mind the kesitce of the Hebrews ; ^^ and I have myself heard an
1 Woodcut No. 97, vol. i. p. 285. s Livy, however, mentions the denarius
- The Chinese and .Japanese have a sort (a silver coin) much earlier, B.C. 337 (viii.
of rini,'- money, or at least round coins with 11). Gold was not struck, at Rome till B.C.
a iiole in the centre, which are strunji' 20".
tojrether (Plin. xxxiii. 1.) [Called /« and w ' In/Eji-ina.' Strabo, lib. vih. p. 259;
cash, in India. — G. W.] on the aiitlioritj' of Ephorus.
3 [2 Kings, V. 23; Tobit ix. ; and 'Pro- n Pausanias says g^old and silver money
ceedinLTS of Numismatic Society,' pp. 177, was unknown in the a<re of Polvdoriis,
233, and 377. — G. W.] king- of Sparta, who died B.C. 724 (lib. iii.
4 Herodot. iv. 166. c. 12). That it was not in use at the time
- 5 Ibid. i. 93. .Jid. Poll. Onom., vi. 83. of the Trojan war, is shown by Homer.
Lucan, Phars. vi. 402. II. H, 473, their mode of buyinfr wine.
6 Plin. liii. 3. '■^ ' Proceedings of Numismatic Society,
' Aristot. CEconom. lib. ii. 1837-38, p. 231.
8 Plin. loc. cit.
246 THE ANCIENT EGYPTIANS. [Chap. IX.
Ethiopian talk of his sheep as his^oo.s-, or 'money.' Iron money
is still used in Kordofan ; it is of the form of a broad arrow, or a
bird on the wing : these coins are of the value of a para each,
forty being equal to one piastre, 100 piastres to £1 English;
they are called kashasha, and, though different in weight, are all
of one value.
Though stamped money was not used by the ancient Egyp-
tians, we have evidence of weights and measures having been
invented by them long before the Greeks existed as a nation ;
and it is probable that they were known even in Greece previous
to the time of Phidon.
The balance used for weighing gold differed slightly from
those of ordinary construction, and was probably more delicately
formed. It was made, as usual, with an upright pole, rising
from a broad base or stand, and a cross-beam turning on a pin
at its summit : but instead of strings suspending the scales was
an arm on either side, terminating in a hook, to which the gold
was attached in small bags.^
Large scales were generally a flat wooden board, with four
ropes attached to a ring at the extremity of the beam ; and those
of smaller size were of bronze, one of Avhich I found in Upper
Egypt, one and a half inch in diameter, pierced near the edge in
three places for the strings.
The principle of the common balance was simple and inge-
nious : the beam passed through a ring suspended from a hori-
zontal rod immediately above and parallel to it, and when equally
balanced, the ring, which was large enough to allow the beam to
play freely, showed when the scales were equally poised, and had
the additional effect of preventing the beam tilting when the
goods were taken out of one, and the weights suffered to remain
in the other.^ To the lower part of the ring a small plummet
was fixed, and this being touched by the hand, and found to hang
freely, indicated, without the necessity of looking at the beam,
that the weight was just. The figure of a baboon, sometimes
placed u})on the top, was not connected in any way with the
balance, but was the emblem of the god Thoth, the regulator of
measures, of time, and of writing, in his character of the moon ;
but I do not find any notion of the gt)ddess.of Justice being
1 Woodcut No. 413, d. tians did not use the steelyard tdl the
'^ Woodcut No. 97, vol. i. p. 285. [The lloniati period, nianv leaded brouzc wui{,'hts
balance was called ma-)(a, aud was iren- of which arc t'ouml from time to time ia
erally of large size, but baud scales are Egypt. — S. B.]
represented on the monuments ; the Egyp-
CuAi'. IX.] SCALES. — METALS. 247
connected with the baUmce, except in the judgment scenes of
the dead.
The pair of scales was tlie ordinary and apparently only kind
of balance used by the Egyptians, no instance of the steelyard
being met with in the paintings of Thebes, or of Beni-Hassan ,
and 1 conclude that the introduction of the latter is confined to
a Roman era [as those found are evidently of that time, with
three different degrees of weights].
The Egyptians had another kind of balance, in which the
equalization of the opposite weights was ascertained by. the
plummet ; and this last, whose invention has been ascribed
by Pliny to Daedalus, is shown to have been known and applied
in Egypt at least as early as the time of Usertesen, the contem-
porary of Joseph.
For ordinary purposes copper was most commonly used :
arms, vases, statues, instruments, and implements of every kind,
articles of furniture, and numerous other objects, were made of
this metal, hardened by an alloy of tin, and even chisels for
cutting stone, as well as carpenters' tools and knives, were of
bronze. It is generally allowed that copper or bronze was known
long before iron ; ^ and though Tubal Cain is said to have been
' the instructor of every artificer in brass and /row,' ^ no direct
mention is made of iron arms^ or tools* till after the Exodus;
and some are even inclined to doubt the harzel of the Hebrews
being really that metal.
According to the Arundelian Marbles, iron was known one
hundred and eighty-eight years before the Trojan war, about 1370
years B.C. ; but Hesiod, Plutarch,-^ and others, limit its discovery
to a much later period after the capture of Troy. Homer, how-
ever, distinctly mentions its use ; ^ and that there is little reason
to doubt the sideros of the poet being iron, is shown by the
simile," derived from the quenching of iron in water, which he
applies to the hissing noise produced on piercing the eye of
Poly[)hemus with the pointed stake, thus rendered by Pope : —
' And as when armorers temper in the ford
The keen-edtred pole-axe, or the shining sword,
The red-hot metal hisses in the lake,
Thus in his eyeball hiss'd the plunging stake.'
Among the earliest authorities for the use of iron may be cited
* Thus Lucretius, ' Sed prius asris erat •• Deut. xxvii. 5.
quam ferri cognitus usus' (lib. v. 1292). 5 Paus. (iriEC. lib. iii. c. 3, Lacon.
- Gcii. iv 22. 6 Honi. U. xxiii. 261, &c.
3 Numb. XXXV. 16. " Horn. Od. ix. 391.
248 THE AN'CIENT EGYPTIAXS. ICiivr. IX.
the ])edstead of Og, tlie king of IJaslian,^ wlio is said to have
lived about tlie year 1450 before our era: and Tlirasyllus^ agrees
with the Arundeliau Marbles in supposing iron to have been
known before tlie Trojan war, or indeed one hundred and fourteen
years previous to the foundation of Troy,^ 1587 before our era.
On the other hand, it has been argued that offerings of iron in
the temples of Greece distinctly showed the value attached to
that metal, as well as its limited use for ordiiuiry purposes, and
rings of iron were worn by the ancients, some of which have
been found in the tombs of Egypt. But these last are of very
late date, long after iron was commonly used, and I possess one
of them, engraved with the Hgure of Harpocrates, which is
undoubtedly of a Ptolemaic or Roman era, and which only
claims some degree of interest from its bearing a device noticed
by Pliny as becoming fashionable at Rome in his time.*
That iron, as early as the days of Lycnrgus, was held in little
estimation, is shown by that legislator forbidding the introduc-
tion of gold and silver in his republic, and restricting the Spar-
tans to the use of iron , and some notion may be formed of its
value at that time by the assertion of Plutarch,^ that it required
a cart drawn by two oxen to carry the small sum of ten minpe.
The Jews appear to have been acquainted with two kinds of
iron previous to the Babylonish captivity, — the barzeU which was
in common use, and the northern iron, as well as steel : ^ even
as early as the days of Job ' iron was known ; and Moses men-
tions an iron furnace.*^
One of the arguments against the early use of iron'^ is the
difficulty of smelting the ore, and of reducing it to a malleable
state; and the various processes required to discover all its most
useful properties render it less likely to be employed than a
more ductile metal. Gold, silver, and copper were easily fused,
and a single process sufficed to make them available for every
purDose ; the principal art required for fabricating implements
1 Deut. iii. 11. tlic earth, and brass is molten out of the
2 [Clemens savs Celmis and Damanus stone.' [' Brass ' should, of course, be
first discovered iron in Cyprus. — G. W.] ' copper.' The aire of Jol) is not considered
Clem. Alex. Strom, i. " so early as was formerly supposed.—
3 Founded B.C. 1423. G. W.]
4 Plin. xxxiii. 3: 'Jam vero Harpocra- 8 Deut. iv. 20.
tem, statuasque ^E^yptiorum numinum, in ^ Pliny says the falnilous Cyclopes were
digitis viri quoque portare incipiunt.' the inventors of the ironsmitli's forjrc, and
5 Pint, in Lycurgo. the Uve'i Dactyli of Crete, according to
6 .Tcrem. xv*. 12. Hesiod, the first to iutrotluce tlie use of
" Job xxviii. 2; 'Iron is taken out of iron. (Plin. vii. 56.)
Chap. IX.] BRONZE AND IRON. 249
of copper depending on the proper pro[)ortions and qualities of
alloy introduced.
'Those three metals,' as Kobertson has observed,^ 'are found
in their perfect state in the clefts of rocks, in the sides of moun-
tains, or the channels of rivers. They were accordingly first
known, and first a[)plied to use. But iron, the most serviceable
of all, and to which man is most indebted,^ is never discovered in
its perfect form ; its gross and stubborn ore must feel twice the
force of fire, and go through two laborious processes, before it
becomes fit for use. Man was long acquainted with the other
metals before he acquired the art of fabricating iron, or attained
such ingenuity as to perfect an invention, to which he is indebted
for those instruments wherewith he subdues the earth and com-
mands all its inhabitants.'
In the infancy of the arts and sciences, the difficulty of work-
ing iron might long withhold the secret of its superiority over
copper and bronze ; but it cannot reasonably be supposed that a
nation so advanced, and so eminently skilled in the art of work-
ing metals as the Egyptians, should have remained ignorant of
its use, even if we had no evidence of its having been known to
the Greeks and other people ; and the constant employment of
bronze arms and implements is not a sufficient argument against
their knowledge of iron, since we find the Greeks and Romans
made the same things of bronze long after the period when iron
was universally known.
Another argument to show that bronze was used in Greece
before iron is derived from the word ' smith ' in Greek having
the signification of ' copj)ersmith,' whether applied to a worker
of copper or iron.^ In Latin, on the contrary, ferruin^ ' an
iron,' is the word frequently applied to a sword ; and some have
hence argued the use of iron for those weapons, at the earliest
period, among the Romans. Yet we find that their swords
were constantly made of bronze, as well as their defensive
armor. The Etruscans almost invariably used iron for swords,
daggers, spear-heads, and other offensive weapons, and confined
bronze to defensive armor ; a much more reasonable custom,
inasmuch as the iron is more capable of perforating the softc-'
metal: and if the early Romans did make their swords of iron.
1 Robertson, ' America,' book IV. p. 125. •* Those who derive harzel from hers,
2 Herodot. i. 68. the Chaldee and Syriac word sisnifj-ing
s -j^alKfixi, Horn. Od. ix. 391. Ilerodot. 'to perforate,' might perhaps suppose /er-
i 68. rum, 'iron,' taken from/enVe, 'to strike.*
250 THE ANCIENT EGYPTIANS. [Chap. IX.
it is probable they adopted the custom from their Italian
neighbors.^
After examining numerous authorities, some of which assert
that nations of antiquity were confined to the use of copper and
bronze, while others affirm that iron was known at a most remote
epoch, we may still remain in uncertainty respecting the question.
But to conclude, from the want of iron instruments or arms
bearing the names of early monarchs of a Pharaonic age, that
bronze was alone used, is neither just nor satisfactory, since the
decomposition of that metal, especially wdien buried for ages in
the nitrous soil of Egypt, is so speedy as to preclude the possi-
bility of its preservation.^ Until we know in what manner, and
for what sort of stone, the Egyptians employed bronze tools, the
discovery of them affords neither additional light, nor even
argument ; since, as T before observed, the Greeks and Romans
continued to make bronze instruments of various kinds long after
iron was known to them: ^ and the general use of bronze may
have arisen from the greater facility of working the metal, re-
melting and casting it afresh, as well as from its being easier to
find than iron ; for though this last, in its various combinations,
is more universally diffused over the face of the globe,'^ it does
not always occur in a state of which the miner can easily avail
himself, and I only know of one mine in Eg}'pt worked by the
ancients. It lies in the eastern desert, between the Nile and
the Red Sea, at a place called Hammami, and was discovered by
my friend, Mr. Burton, who visited it in 1822, and found the
metal to be in the form of specular and red iron ore.
In Ethiopia iron was much more abundant than in Egypt, and
Herodotus may be correct in stating that copper was there a rare
metal ;^ though we are not disposed to believe his assertion of
prisoners in that country being bound with golden fetters.
[The question of the use of iron amongst the Egyptians has
1 Iron swords have been fouml in Etius- have been forced between them when the
can tombs, and tliere is no doubt of the use Arabs were removini^ the blocks. But
of iron by the Italian nations at an early there arc other and licttcr proofs of the use
period. Amonjr the Assyrians, dated of iron in Eirypt. Of course, in no land
specimens of iron arc as old as eight ccn- could iron lie preserved so long as other
turies H.c. at least. — S. B. metals. — C. W.]
- [Herodotus speaks of iron tools used ^ Bcckmann's ' History of Inventions,'
in building the pvramids (ii. 125). The on the early use of steel, vol. iv.
piece of iron found by Colonel Howard •• As Pliny ol)servcs, ' Metalloruin om-
V\-se, embedded between two stones of the nium vena ferri largissima est' (xxxiv. c.
Great Pyramid, may have lieen jilaccti 14).
there when liic pyratiiid was liuilt, or may ^ Ilerodot. iii 23.
Chap. IX.] IRON IMPLEMENTS. 251
been rendered long doubtful by the few specimens of that metal
found in the monuments and sepulchres. A thin fragment of
wrought plate-iron was found in one of the air-passages of the
Great Pyramid,^ and the iron blade of a falchion under a sphinx
at Karnak.2 Lately a broken statue of bronze from the neigh-
borhood of the Pyramids and of the age of the Ramessids has
been found with iron wires passed through the sand core to sus-
tain it in its oval places.^ Amongst other objects of iron may
be cited the iron blade of an adze with a bone or ivory handle.*
There is of course no doubt about the use of iron at a later
period, and under the Romans iron nails have been found in the
hasps of doors and in coffins, replacing the wooden plugs employed
for that purpose at the Pharaonic time.^ Two words have been
found descriptive of iron, — baaenpe^ 'heavenly metal,' supposed
to be meteoric iron, and ha nu ta, or 'terrestrial metal,' that found
in the earth. Another word has been supposed to mean steel,
but it seems doubtful. Iron vessels were brought from Syria and
Phoenicia as tribute to Thothmes. — S. B.]
In the sepulchres of Thebes I have had occasion to remark
butchers represented sharpening their knives on a round bar of
metal attached to their apron ; and the blue color of the blades,
and the distinction maintained between the bronze and steel
weapons in the tomb of Rameses III., one being painted red and
the other blue, leave little doubt that the Egyptians of an
early Pharaonic age were acquainted with the use of iron.
Many implements of husbandry — the plough, the hoe, and the
fork — were frequently of wood, as simple in their form as in the
materials of which they were made ; the ploughshare was prob-
ably sometimes sheathed with, or the blade of a hoe formed
of, metal ; but it is uncertain whether iron was employed for
this purpose, or if, like the tools of earlier days mentioned by
Hesiod,^ they were confined to bronze.
Several wooden hoes have been found in Egypt, and are now
preserved in the museums of Europe : the blades and handles
are simply inserted the one into the other, and bound together in
the middle with a twisted rope ; and their general appearance,
1 'Trans. International Congress of e>yptienne,' i. 2; Chabas, ' fitudes sur
-Orientalists,' 4to, London, 1875, pp. 396, TAntiquite historique.'
597. ■ 5 Khind, 'Theijes, its Tombs,' p. 218.
- 'Guide to EjiTptian Rooms, British 6 Hesiod, Oper. et Dies, v. 151: 'Men
MuseuMi,' 1874, p. -iS, Xo. 5110. tilled the i^round with bronze, iron not
i* Belonging to Mr. BaUhy. being as yet known.'
■* Dcve'ria, ' Me'langes d' Archeologie
252
THE ANCIENT EGYPTI^VNS.
[Chap, iX.
according exactly with those lepiesfiited in the agricultural
scenes of the tombs, shows them to have been the kind most
commonly used,^ even to the latest times.
It is true that the Berlin Museum has the head of a small
hoe of iron, but of what date is uncertain ; and no inference can
be drawn from it, especially as its form differs essentially from
those of the paintings.
No. 417.
Wooden hoes.
Berlin Museum.
I have already stated that the speedy decomposition of iron
would be sufficient to prevent our finding inn)lements of that
metal of an earl}' period, and that the greater opportunities of
obtaining copper ore, added to the facility of working it, were a
reason for preferring the latter whenever it answered the purpose
instead of iron. I shall presently endeavor to show how bronze
tools might be made available for scul})turiiig and engraving
stone; though there is great difficulty in accounting for their
use in mines and quarries, where the stone was fre([uently hewn
with them: as Agatharcides - informs us in his account of the
gold mines, and as I have reason to believe was done in cutting
the limestone rock of the tombs at Thebes; having found a
bronze chisel amidst the clii})pings of the stone, where it had
been accidentally left by the workmen.
The ]nerogi3'[)liics on obelisks and other granitic monuments
1 Woodcut No. 112, vol. i. p. 344. bronze arc foiiiul,' and infers that they were
2 He says, Xaronibii -^^HKiit, ' ivedges of not tlieii acquainted with iron.
Chap. IX.] SCULPTURING TOOLS. 253
are sculptured with a minuteness and finish which, even it'
tliey used steel as highly tempered as our own, cannot fail to
surprise the beholder, and to elicit from him the confession tliat
our modern sculptors are unable to vie with them in this branch
of art.
Some are cut to the depth of more than two inches, the edges
and all the most minute parts of the intaglio presenting the
same sharpness and accuracy ; and I have seen the figure of
a king in high relief, reposing on the lid of a granite coffin,
which was raised to the height of nine inches above the level of
the surface. What can be said, if we deny to men who executed
such works as these the aid of steel, and confine them to bronze
implements ? Then, indeed, we exalt their skill in metallurgy
far beyond our own, and indirectly confess that they had devised
a method of sculpturing stone of which we are ignorant. In vain
should we attempt to render copper, by the addition of certain
alloys, sufficiently hard to sculpture granite, basalt, and stones
of similar quality. No one who has tried to perforate or cut a
block of Egyptian granite will scruple to acknowledge that oui-
best steel tools are turned in a very short time,^ and require to
be retemj^ered : and the labor experienced by the French
engineers who removed the obelisk of Luxor from Thebes, in
cutting a space less than two feet deep along the face of its
partially decomposed pedestal, suffices to show that, even with
our excellent modern implements, we find considerable difficulty
in doing what to the Egyptians would have been one of the
least arduous tasks. At Thebes chisels are represented in the
paintings as used in cutting granite statues, but whether they are
of bronze it is difficult to say.
Some have imagined that the granite, being somewhat softer
at the time it is taken from the quarry, was more easily sculptured
1 I am indebted to Sir R. Westmacott One man holds and turns or moves the tool,
lor the following- observations on this sub- whilst the other strikes it with a heavy
ject : ' Granite, as most hard materials of hammer, the hole being supplied with
tliat nature, being generally worked with a water Tools of less diameter are formed
pick of various strength, until reduced to a of steel, but these will not resist more tlian
surface, the duration of the tools depends three hundred strokes, when the points tly,
on its form; the more obtuse the longer it and require to be fresh battered. Sculptors
will work, remaining longer cold. In generally use tools formed of blistered
jumping (as it is termed) holes for the ad- steel, or of cast steel, the finer sort highly
mission of bolts into fractured parts of tempered, by immersing them, when
granite, the tools are usually of strong heated to a proper degree, into cold water,
tempered iron, about three-quarters of an Carpenters' tools again, and saws, are of
inch in diameter, which resist the he.at the best cast-steel, and are tempered in oil.'
sometimes half an hour, seklom longer.
254 THE ANCIENT EGYPTIANS. [Chap. IX.
when the P^gyptians put up tlie obelisks tliaii at present, aiul tlius
satisfy themselves that the labor was considerably less ; Init this
argument is entirely overthrown by the fact of otlier sculptures
having been frequently added, one hundred and one hundred
and fifty years after the erection of the monument, as in the
lateral lines of hieroglyphics on o])elisks, which are sometimes
found more deeply cut and more beautifully executed than those
previousl}' sculptured. Others have suggested that the stone
being stunned, as it is termed, in those places where it was
to be sculptured, yielded more readily to the blow of the
chisel ; but neither is this sufficient to produce the effect
proposed, nor an advantage exclusively enjoyed by the ancient
Egyptians.^
Thus, then, we find that the facility they j^ossessed of sculp-
turing granite is neither attributable to any process for bruising
the crystals, nor to its softer state on coming from the quarry :
we must therefore account for it in the skill they had acquired,
and endeavor to discover the means the}' employed with such
wonderful success.
The hieroglyphics on the obelisks are rather engraved than
sculptured ; and, judging from the minute manner in which they
are executed, we may suppose they adopted the same process as
engravers, and even in some instances emplo} ed the wheel and
drill. That they were acquainted with the use of emery powder -
is not at all improbable, since, being found in the islands of the
ArchiiDclago, it was within their reach ; and if this be admitted,
we can account for the admirable finish and sharpness of the
hieroglyphics on granitic and basaltic monuments, and explain
the reason of their preferring tools of bronze to those of harder
and more compact steel: for it is evident the })Owder enters more
readily into the former, and its action upon the stone is increased
in [)roportion to the quantity retained by the point of the chisel ;
whence we now prefer tools of soft iron to hard steel for the same
purpose.
As far as the sculi)ture or engraving of hieroglyphics,, this
explanation might suflice for their preference of bronze imple-
1 It has hocn supposed tluit (iwinjr to the used in sawinsj granite, a process not un-
nietiiod of workini:' by stunniiiir, so as to commonly resoi-ted to hy tlic Eiryptians ;
shake the block every time when struck, and the presence of o\ide of copper in the
tiie necessity arose of leaving tiie parts be- part where the rock was cut, wliich sur-
tween the arms and \egi reserved, or not prised De Roziere and others, may thns lie
cut away. — S. B. more readily accounted for.
- It is ]irobable that this powder was
Chap. IX. ] SCULPTURING TOOLS. 255
ments ; but when we find tools used in quarries made of the
same metal, we are unable to account for it, and readily express
our surprise how they could render a bronze chisel capable of
liewing stone. We know of no means of tempering copper,
under any form or united with any alloys, for such a purpose.
The addition of tin or other metals to harden it, if exceeding
certain proportions, renders it too brittle for use ; and that such
is not the case is evident from the chisel I found at Thebes,
which, though it contains an alloy of tin, viz. 5-9 parts of tin
in 100, is far from being brittle, and is easily turned by striking
it against the very stone it was once used to cut. Had it
depended on the proportions of its alloys, it ought still to
possess the same power as formerly, and its point should act
in the same manner upon the stone ; for, what is very remark-
able, the summit was turned over by the blows it had received
from the mallet, while the point was intact, as if it had recently
left the hands of the smith who made it.
What, then, gave it the power of cutting the stone, and of
resisting in this manner? for unless some medium was employed,
as a sheath of steel or other protection to its point, we must
confess that the Egyptians appear to have possessed certain
secrets for hardening or tempering bronze with which we are
totally unacquainted. The size of this chisel is from 9 to
9^5 inches in length; its diameter at the summit is 1 inch, and
the point is y^o of an inch in its greatest width : its weight is
lib. 12 oz., and in general form it resembles those now used by
the masons of modern Europe.
The skill of the Egyptians in compounding metals is abun-
dantly proved by the vases, mirrors, arms, and implements of
bronze discovered at Thebes and other parts of Egypt ; and the
numerous methods ^ they adopted for varying the composition of
bronze, by a judicious admixture of alloys,^ are shown in the
many qualities of the metal. They had even the secret of giving
to bronze and brass ^ blades a certain degree of elasticity ; as may
be seen in the dagger of the Berlin Museum already noticed.
1 Greek bronzes of the earliest and analyzed, the proportion is about twelve
latest times have generally the same pro- parts of tin in a hundred.
portion of alloy. A little silver sometimes 3 There is no direct proof of brass im-
occurs, hut this is supposed to have entered plements being known to the ancient
accidently with the tin. [Dr. Ure, ' Diet. Egyptians, and no analysis has yet shown
of Arts and Manufactures,' Coppeh. — the' presence of zinc. "I have a ring ap-
G. '\^ .] parcntly of brass, but it is possible that
2 In almost all the bronzes hithertu gold is there used instead of zinc.
256 THE ANCIENT EGYPTIAJSTS. [Chap. IX.
which probably depended on the mode of hammering the metal,
and the just proportions of peculiar alloys.
Another remarkable feature in their bronze is the resistance
it offers to the effect of the atmosphere ; some continuing smooth
and bright, though buried for ages, and since exposed to the
damp of European climates, and some presenting the appearance
of previous oxidation purposely induced.^
It is not known at what period they began to cast statues and
other objects in bronze, or if the use of beaten copper long pre-
ceded the art of casting in that metal. No light is thrown on
this point by the paintings of Beni-Hassan and Thebes, or by
the tombs in the vicinity of the Pyramids, which, from their early
date, would be an authority highly satisfactory and important.
It is, indeed, singular that at no period do we find any represen-
tation, among the many subjects connected with the trades, arts,
and occupations of the Egyptians, which relate to this process ;
even in tombs or on monuments made at a time when we know
from positive evidence that they were acquainted with it : —
another convincing proof that no argument against the existence
of a custom ought to be derived from the circumstance of its
not being indicated on the monuments.
Many bronze statues have been found, evidently from their
style, of a very early period; but in the absence of a king's
name it is impossible to fix their exact date, though I feel
persuaded that the art of casting metal was known before
the commencement of the 18th Dynasty, and it is probable that
many specimens exist of the age of Usertesen and Thothmes.
Pausanius,^ in speaking of the art of casting metal, observes
that the people of Pheneum in Arcadia pretended that Ulysses
dedicated a statue of bronze to Neptune Hippius, in order that
^he might recover the horses he had lost through the interven-
tion of the deity ; ' and indeed ' he adds. ' they showed me an
niscription on the pedestal of the statue offering a reward to any
person who should find and take care of the animals ; but I do
not o-ive credit to the whole of their statement, and no one can
})ersuade me that Llysses erected a bronze statue to Neptune.
The art of fusing metal and casting it in a mould was not yet
known ; a statue was made in those times like a dress, succes-
sively and in pieces, not at one time or in a single mass, as I
1 I suppose the metal was then coated with some substance which filled the pores. This
IS done at the present day. - Paus. Grtec. lib. viii. c. 14, Arcad.
Chap. IX. 1 METAL-WORKIXG. —VASES. 257
have already shown - in speaking of the statue of Jupiter, sur-
named the Most High. In fact, the first who cast statues were
Rhcecus the son of Philseus, and Theodorus''^ the son of Telecles,
both natives of Samos ; the latter the same who engraved ^ the
beautiful emerald in the ring of Polycrates.'
The Samians were noted at an early period for their skill in
this branch of art ; and before the foundation of Cyrene, or
B.C. 630, they made a bronze vase, ornamented with griffins, sup-
ported on three colossal figures of the same metal, for the temple
of Juno.* The art was also known at a very remote period in
Italy. Among the Etruscans bronze statues were common before
the foundation of Rome ; and Romulus is said to have placed a
statue of himself, crowned by Victory, in a four-horse car of
bronze, which had been captured at the taking of Camerium.°
Pliny attributes the discovery of gold and the secret of
smelting it to Cadmus,^ who is supposed to have gone to Greece
1493 years before our era ; but this, like most of the inventions
mentioned by him, was long before known to the Egyptians ;
and we may apply the same remark to the supposed discovery
of Rhoecus and Theodorus.
It is uncertain whether the Egyptians possessed the art of
damascening or inlaying iron with gold, since, owing to the
speedy decomposition of that metal, nothing made of iron has
been preserved of a remote era ; but we may conclude, from their
inlaying bronze in this manner, that it was not unknown to them.
Some have supposed that Glaucus of Chios was the inventor
of this art, and that the stand of his silver vase — presented to
the temple of Delphi by Alyattes, king of Lydia, which,
according to Herodotus,' was the most beautiful of all tlie
offerings there — - was made of iron inlaid with gold. But the
description given of it by Pausanias^ will not sanction this
opinion, as he expressly states ' it consisted of several plates of
iron, adjusted one over the other in the form of steps ; the
last — that is, those of the summit — curving a little outwards.
It had the form of a tower, large at the base and decreasing
upwards, and the pieces of which it was composed were not
fastened either with nails or pins, but simpl}' soldered together.'
1 Pans. Grsec. lib. iii. 4 Herodot. iv. 152.
2 Pliny (vii. 56) says, 'Theodorus in- ° Dionys. Hal. Ant. Eom. 1. ii. Plut.
vented the rule, the level, the turner's in- in Rom. 6 Plin. vii. 56.
strument, and the key.' '' Herod, i. 25.
3 Herodot. iii. 41. Plin. .xxxvii 1. 8 Pans. lib. x. 16. Phoc.
VOL. II. 17
258
THE ANCIENT EGYPTIANS.
[Chap. IX.
The Greeks, however, were not ignorant of damascening ; and
though the stand of Alyattes' vase was not so inh^id, it is certain
they possessed the art, and ornamented goblets and other objects
in that manner. The process was very simple : the iron was
carved with various devices, and the narrow lines thus hollowed
out were tilled with gold or with silver, which in some instances
Avere probably soldered, and in others simply beaten in with the
hammer, the surface being afterwards filed and polished.
The term damascening, though generally confined to iron or
steel so inlaid (owing to its having been borrowed from the
specimens of this work in the modern sword-blades of Da-
mascus), may with equal propriety be extended to any metal ;
and numerous instances of bronze inlaid with gold and silver
occur in statues, scarabsei, and various ornamental objects dis-
covered at Thebes and other places. Hard stones were also
engraved in the same manner, and the intaglio filled with gold
or silver beaten into it ; a process commonly adopted at the
present day by the Turks and other Eastern people in their
hookahs or ndrgilehs^ handles of daggers, and the stone orna-
ments of their amber mouth-pieces ; but at what time this was
first done it is needless to conjecture.
The art of soldering metals had long been practised in Egypt
p^pi before the time of Glaucus ; and it
is curious to find gold and bronze
vases, made apj)arently in the same
manner as the stand of that men-
tioned by Pausanias, represented
at Thebes in sculptures executed
during the reign of the third Thoth-
mes, 1490 years before our era, and
consequently many centuries pre-
vious to the Chian artist. Tliey
are shown to have been composed of
plates of metal, imbricated, or over-
lapping each other, as Pausanias
describes, and sometimes bound at
intervals with bands of metal. In-
stances occur in the same sculptures
of gold vases with stands formed of similar plates, which are
interesting also from the elegance of their forms.
In coarser work, or in those parts which were out of sight, the
Egyptians soldered with lead, but we are ignorant of the time
Ko. 418. Vases of the time of Thothmes
111., imbricated, or ornamented with
plates of metal. Over them is the
word ' gold,' showing the material of
which tliev were made. Thebes
Chap. IX.] ARROW-HEADS. 259
when it was first used for that purpose, though it could only have
been after the discovery of tin; for, as Pliny^ justly observes,
'lead can only be united by the addition of tin, nor is this last
efficient without the application of oil.' ^ The oldest specimen of
metal soldered with lead with wliich I am acquainted is the
sistrum of Mr. Burton , ^ its date, however, is uncertain ; and
though, from the style of the figures engraved upon it, we may
venture to ascribe it to a Pharaonic age, the exact period when it
was made cannot be fixed.
In early ages, before men had acquired the art of smelting
ore, and of making arms and implements of metal, stones of
various kinds were used, and the chasseur was contented with
the pointed flint with which nature had provided him. The only
effort of his ingenuity was to fix it in some kind of handle, or at
the extremity of a reed, in order to make the knife or the arrow;
and we still witness the skill which some savage people of the
present day display in constructing those rude weapons.
The Egyptians, at a remote period, before civilization dawned
upon them, probably adopted the same, since we find that stone-
tipped arrows continued to be occasionally used for hunting,
even after they had improved every species of weapon, and after
the arts had arrived at the state of perfection in which they
appear subsequently to the accession of the 18th Dynasty. Long
habit had reconciled them to the original reed shaft, with its
head of flint, and even to arrows made with a point of hard wood
inserted into them, which were also the remnant of a primeval
custom.^
Those, however, who preferred them of a stronger kind,
adopted arrows of wood, tipped with bronze heads ; and these
were considered more serviceable, and were almost invariably
used in war. But when this improvement took place in the con-
struction of their arms it is impossible to conjecture, being coeval
with the early stages of a civilization which is concealed by the
veil of ages, and dates long before the period of which any
monuments remain.
It is, indeed, a remarkable fact that the first glimpse we
1 Plin. vxxiv. 16. showing;' their age, and some are evidently
^ Or resin, which we now use. of the Greek, or even Roman period, espe-
3 In the British Museum, No. 6355. cially the three-bladed ones. Those from
•* The period of the use of bronze arrow- the early times have either pointed wooden
heads appears uncertain, as none of those or stone heads. — S. B.
discovered bear any date or inscription
260 THE AXCIEXT EGYPTIAN'S. (Chap. IX.
obtain of the history iiiid manners of the Egyptians shows us a
nation already advanced in all the arts of civilized life, and the
same customs and inventions that prevailed in the Augustan era
of that peo})le, after the accession of the 18th Dj^nasty, are found
in the remote age of Usertesen, the contemporary of Joseph ; nor
can there l)e any douljt that they were in the same civilized state
when Abraham visited the country.
I have observed that the fact of })rivate citizens going un-
armed, and of the soldier laying aside his sword and other weapons
when not on service, may be considered a strong proof of refine-
ment, and of their advancement in the habits of social life. The
same custom was already adopted at the time to which I allude ;
and many circumstances unite in proclaiming the civilization of
Egypt at least as early as the 18th century before our era. How
far does this throw us back into the infancy of the world I at least
of the world peopled by the descendants of Noah — and when we
recollect that the pj-ramids of Memphis were erected within three
hundred years after the era assigned to the Deluge, and that the
tombs of Beni-Hassan were hewn and painted with subjects
describing the arts and manners of a highly-civilized people
about SIX hundred years after that event, it may occur that the
distance between the Deluge and the construction of those pyra-
mids and tombs is not greater than from the present day to the
reigns of our own Elizabeth and Henry HI.
The same prejudice in favor of an ancient and primitive
custom retained the use oi stone knives for certain purposes con-
iiected with religion among the Egyptians ; and Herodotus tells
us it was usual to make an incision in the body of the deceased,
when brought to be embalmed, with an Ethiopic stone. ^ This
name, though very indefinite, seems here, as in all instances
where the stone is said to be applied to a similar purpose, to
signify flint ; and this conjecture is not only confirmed by jjrob-
ability, and by the frequent use of it by many people as a
cutting instrument, but by the fact of our finding several knives
of that stone in the tombs of Thebes. Irj other cases the Ethiopic
stone mentioned by Herodotus is evidently granite, so called
from being common in Ethiopia : and it is possible that the Hint
received that name from its black color.
The knives found in the excavations and tombs, many of
which are preserved in our Euroi)ean museums, are generally of
1 Heioilot. ii. 86.
Chap. IX. ] STONE WEAPONS. 261
two kinds ; one broad and flat like the blade of a knife, the other
narrow and pointed at the summit, several of which are preserved
in the Berlin Museum. These last ^ are supposed to have been
used for making tlie incision in the side of the body, for the
purpose of removing the intestines, preparatory to the embalm-
ing process already mentioned ; and considering how strong!}-
men's minds are prepossessed in favor of early habits connected
with religion, and how scrupulous the Egyptians were, above all
people, in permitting the introduction of new customs in mat-
ters relating to the gods, we, are not surprised that they should
have retained the use of these primitive instruments in a cere-
mony of so sacred a nature as the emljalming of the dead.
No. 418.* Flint knives. Berlin Museum.
[The use of stone weapons amongst the ancient Egyptians has
lately attracted^ considerable attention, and without doubt, dated
from the earliest period, a beautiful little stone saw having been
found by Professor Hayter Lewis at the Pyramid of Zowet el
Arrian, built under one of the first six dynasties. The various
stone knives in the museums of Europe are of pyromachous silex,
of a light brown, not dark color, and they were often deposited
in baskets near the mummies, and fragments or slices of flint
have been discovered in the tombs. Arrow-heads resembling
those of the stone period have also been discovered in a tomb of
the 22d dynasty, or the 9th century B.C. ; and other leaf-shaiied
pieces, apparently for the same use. Great quantities of flint
instruments have also been found in the neighborhood of
Eg^q^tian temples and stations in the peninsula of Sinai in
Arabia, amongst them stone hammers; knives of dark steatite
are also known, and the blade of a dagger of pyromachous silex.
1 Woodcut Xo. 418 * fig. 1.
2 Chabas, ' Etudes sur I'Antiquite historique,' 8vo, Paris, 1872, p. 328 and foil.
Vignette I. — Tomb at Saqqara, arched with stone, of the time of Psammatichus I., whose
name occurs on the root to the left, and other places.
CHAPTER X.
Style of Art among: the Epryptians — Xames of early Kincfs : Cheops, or Snpliis, and
others — Some of the Subjects of the Sculptures in the Temples — Colors — Relief
and Intaglio — Painting — Brick Pyramids — The Arch — Quarries — Large Blocks
of Stone moved — Bellows, Siphons, Inventions — Dresses — Wigs — Women's
Dresses and Jewelry — Eyes painted — Baths — Medical Men — Exvotos.
The same veneration for ancient usage and the stern regulations
of the priesthood, which forbade any innovation in the form of
the human figure, particularly in subjects connected with religion,
fettered the genius of the Egyptian artists, and prevented its
development. The same formal outline, the same attitudes and
postures of the body, the same conventional mode of representing
the different parts were adhered to, at the latest us at the earliest
262
Chap. X. | SCULPTURE. 268
periods ; no improvements, resulting from experience and obser-
vation, were admitted in the mode of drawing the figure, no
attempt was made to copy nature, or to give proper action to the
limbs. Certain rules, certain models, had been established by
law, and the faulty conceptions of early times were copied and
perpetuated by every successive artist: for, as Plato and Syne-
sius inform us, sculptors were not suffered to attempt anything
contrary to the regulations laid down regarding the figures of
the gods ; they were forbidden to introduce any change, or to
invent new subjects and habits ; and thus the art, and the rules
which bound it, always remained the same.
Egyptian bas-relief appears to have been, in its origin, a mere
copy of painting, its predecessor. The first attempt to represent
the figures of gods, sacred emblems, and other subjects, consisted
in painting simple outlines of them on a flat surface, the details
being afterwards put in with color; but in process of time these
forms were traced on stone with a tool, and the intermediate
space between the various figures being afterwards cut away, the
one level surface' assumed the appearance of a bas-relief. It
was, in fact, a pictorial representation on stone, which is evidently
the character of all the bas-reliefs on Egyptian monuments, and
which readily accounts for the imperfect arrangement of their
figures.
Deficient in conception, and, above all, in a proper knowledge
of grouping, they were unable to form those combinations which
give true expression; every picture was made up of isolated
parts, put together according to some general notions, but with-
out harmony or preconceived effect. The human face, the whole
body, and everything they introduced, were composed in the
same manner, of separate members placed together one by one,
according to their relative situations: the eye, the nose, and
other features composed a face; but the expression of feelings
and passions was entirely wanting ; and the countenance of the
king, whether charging an enemy's phalanx in the heat of battle,
or peaceably offering incense in a sombre temple, presented the
same outline and the same inanimate look. The peculiarity of
the front view of an eye introduced in a profile is thus accounted
for: it was the ordinary representation of that feature added to a
profile, and no allowance was made for any change in the position
of the head.
It was the same with drapery : the figure was first drawn, and
the drapery then added, not as [lart of the whole, but as an
264 THE ANCIENT EGYPTIANS. [('iiAi'. X.
accessory; they hail no yeiieral coiicejttioii, no ])revious idea of
the effect reiiuired to distinguish the warrior or the priest, beyond
tlie ini])rcssions received from costume, or from the subject of
wliich they formed a part; and the same figure was dressed
according to the character it was intended to perform. Every
portion of a picture was conceived by itself, and inserted as it
was wanted to complete the scene; and when the walls of the
building, where a subject was to be drawn, had been accurately
ruled with si^uares, the figures were introduced, and fitted to this
mechanical arrangement. The meml)ers were appended to the
body, and these scjuares regulated their form and distriluition in
whatever posture they might be placed.
Thus then, as Diodorus observes ^ of Egyptian statues, various
portions of the same figure might be made by several artists in
different places, the style and attitude having been previously
agreed upon, which, when brought together, would necessarily
agree, and form a complete whole.
As long as this conventional system continued, no great
change could take place beyond a slight variation in the propor-
tions, which at one period became more elongated, particularly
in the reign of the second Rameses; but still the general form
and character of the figures contiiiued the same, which led to the
remark of Plato, ' that the pictures and statues made ten thousand
years ago are in no one particular better or worse than what they
now make.' ^ And that they were still bound b}^ the same regu-
lations, which prohibited all change in these matters, even to the
latest times, is evident from the sculptures of the monuments
erected when Egypt had long been a Roman province. All was
still Egyptian, though of a bad style ; and if they then attempted
to finish tlie details with more precision, it was only substituting
ornament for simplicity; and this love of minuteness plainly
indicated a deficiency of taste, the natural consequence of the
decadence of art.
In the comi)osition of modern paintings three objects are
required — one main action; one point of view; and one instant
of time: and the proportions and harmou}- of the parts are regu-
lated by perspective. But in Egyptian sculpture these essentials
were disregarded: everything was sacrificed to the principal
1 Diod. i. 98. This 1 l)clieve never to Sariios, made in two pieces. In- Teleclcs
have been done by the E<ryptians, l)ecaiise and Theodonis, at Saiiios and Ephesus.
their statues were all of 'one piece. He - Plato, Second Hook of Laws,
mentions a Greek statue of Apollo of
CliAP. X. 1 COMPOSITION. — DRAWING. 265
figure , its colossal dimensions pointed it out as a centre to which
all the rest was a mere accessory ; and, if any other was made
equally conspicuous or of equal size, it was still in a subordinate
station, and only intended to illustrate the scene connected with
the hero of the piece.
Jn the paintings of the tombs greater license was allowed in
the representation of subjects relating to private life, the trades,
or the manners and occupations of the people ; and some indica-
tion of perspective in the position of the figures may occasionally
be observed : but the attempt was imperfect, and probably, to
an Egyptian eye, unpleasing ; for such is the force of habit that
even where nature is copied, a conventional style is sometimes
preferred to a more accurate representation.
In the battle-scenes on the temples of Thebes, some of the
figures representing the monarch pursuing the fiying enemy,
despatching a hostile chief with his sword, and drawing his bow,
as his horses carry his car over the prostrate bodies of the slain,
are drawn with much spirit, and the position of the arms gives a
perfect idea of the action which the artist intended to portray ;
still, the same imperfections of style and want of truth are
observed. There is action, but no sentiment, expression of the
passions, or life in the features ; it is a figure ready formed, and
mechanically varied into movement ; and whatever position it is
made to assume the point of view is the same : the same profile
of the human body with the anomaly of the shoulders seen in
front, and attached as a separate though component part of the
whole figure.
Limited to such a conventional mode of drawing, it was in
vain for the Egyptian artists to aspire to that degree of excel-
lence attained by the Greeks, unfettered by prejudice, and
allowed to imitate the beauties of nature ; much less could they
arrive at that degree of feeling which formed taste, and called
forth the poetry of the mind : their imaginative powers were
checked ; they were forced to remain contented with the models
already before them ; and no new conceptions were elicited or
required.
In the representation of animals, they appear not to have been
restricted to the same rigid style ; but genius once cramped can
scarcely be expected to make any great effort to rise, or to succeed
in the attempt ; and the same union of parts into a whole, the
same preference for profile, are observable in these as in the
human figure. Seldom did they attempt to draw the face in.
266 THE ANCIENT EGYPTIANS. |CnAP. X.
front, either of men or animals ; and when this was done, it fell
far short of the profile, and was composed of the same juxta-
position of parts. It must, however, be allowed, that in general
the character and form of animals were admirably portrayed ; the
parts were put together with greater truth; and the same license
was not resorted to as in the shoulders and other portions of the
human body. Nor will I deny that great life and animation
are given to the antelope and many wild beats in the hunting
scenes of the Theban tombs, or refuse my assent to the observa-
tion of Madame de Stael,^ ' Les sculpteurs Egyptiens saisissaient
avec bien plus de g^nie la figure des animaux que celle des
hommes.'
The mode of representing men and animals in profile is
primitive, and characteristic of the commencement of art : ^ the
first attempts made by an uncivilized people are confined to it ;
and until the genius of artists bursts forth this style continues
to hold its ground. From its simplicity it is readily understood ;
the most inexperienced perceive the object intended to be repre-
sented; and no effort is required to comprehend it. Hence it is
that, though few combinations can be made under such restric-
tions, those few are perfectly intelligible, the eye being aware
of the resemblance to the simple exterior ; and the modern un-
instructed peasant of Egypt, who is immediately struck with and
understands the paintings of the Theban tombs, if shown an
European drawing, is seldom able to distinguish men from
animals; and no argument will induce him to tolerate fore-
shortening, the omission of those parts of the body concealed
from his view by the perspective of the picture, or the intro-
duction of shadows, particularly on the human flesh.
Bas-relief may be considered the earliest style of sculpture.
It originated in those pictorial representations which were the
primeval records of a people anxious to commemorate their vic-
tories, the accession or the virtues of a king, and other events
connected with their history. These were the first purposes to
which the imitative powers of the mind were applied; but the
progress was slow, and the infant art (if it may be so called)
passed through several stages ere it had the power of portraying
real occurrences and imitating living scenes. The rude drawing
of a spear, a sword, a bow, or other weapon, supplied at first the
1 Corinne, vol. i. p. 127.
2 See prehistoric reraaias in the British Museum.
Chap. X.| OFFICE OF SCULPTURE. 267
place of the action itself, of which it was a species of hiero-
glyphic ; but in process of time the outlines of a warrior and
a prostrate foe were attempted, and the valor of the prince
who had led them to victory was recorded by this simple group.
As their skill increased, the mere allegorical representation
was extended to that of a descriptive kind, and some resemblance
of the hero's person was attempted ; his car, the army he com-
manded, and the flying enemies, were introduced ; and what was
at first scarcely more than a symbol, assumed the more exalted
form and character of a picture. Of a similar nature were all
their historical records, and these pictorial illustrations were a
substitute for written documents. Sculpture, indeed, long pre-
ceded letters ; and we find that even in Greece, to describe, draw,
engrave, and write, were expressed by the same word, grapheifi.
The want of letters, and the inability to describe an individ-
ual, his occupations, or his glorious actions, led them in early
ages to bury with the body some object which might indicate
the character of the deceased. Thus, warriors were interred
with their arms ; ^ artisans with the implements they had used;
the oar was placed over the sailor ; and pateroe, and other uten-
sils connected with his office, or the emblems of the deity in
whose service he had been employed, were deposited in the
sepulchre of a priest. In those times we find no inscription
mentioned ; a simple mound was raised over a chief, sometimes
with a stylos or rough stone pillar placed upon it, but no writing ;
and when, at a later period, any allusion to the occupations of
the deceased was attempted, a rude allegorical emblem, of the
same nature as tb^ early historical, records before alluded to,
was engraved on tne levelled surface of the stone.
Poetr)^ and songs also supplied the want of writing to record
the details of events ; and tradition handed down the glorious
achievements of a conqueror, and the history of past years,
with the precision and enthusiasm of national pride. The
poetry was recited to the sound of music, whence the same
expression often implied the ode and the song ; and as laws
were recorded in a similar manner, the word nomos signified, as
Aristotle observes, both a law and a song.
Sculpture dates long before architecture. A simple hut, or
a rude house, answers every purpose as a place of abode, and
a long time elapses before man seeks to invent what is not
demanded by necessity.
' Vii-jjil, ^u. vi. 233, at the tomb of Misenus.
268 THE ANCIENT EGYPTIANS. [Chap. X.
Architecture is a creation of the mind; it has no model in
nature ; and it requires great imaginative powers to conceive its
ideal beauties, to make a proper combination of parts, and to
judge of the harmony of forms altogether new and beyond the
reach of experience. But the desire in man to imitate and to
record what has passed before his eyes — in short, to transfer
the impression from his own mind to another — is natural in
every stage of society : and however imperfectly he may suc-
ceed in representing tlie objects themselves, his attempts to
indicate their relative pocition, and to embody the expression
of his own ideas, are a source of the highest satisfaction.
As the wish to record events gave the first, religion gave the
second impulse to sculpture. The simple pillar of wood or
stone ^ which was originally chosen to represent the deity,
afterwards assumed the human form, the noblest image of the
power that created it ; and the memorial of the primitive sub-
stitute for a statue is curiously preserved in the Greek name
x/wj', implying a column and an idol. Pausanias- thinks that
' all statues were in ancient times of wood, particularly those
made in Egypt : ' but this must have been at a period so
remote as to be far beyond the known history of that country ;
though it is probable that, when the arts were in tlieir infancy,
the Egyptians were confined to statues of that kind ; and they
occasionally erected wooden figures in their temples, even till
the times of the later Pharaohs.
Long after men had attempted to make out the parts of the
figure, statues continued to be ver}" rude. The arms were placed
directly down the side to the thighs, and the legs were united
together; nor did they pass beyond this imperfect state in Greece
until the age of Dpedalus. The Egyptians, at the latest periods,
continued to follow the imperfect models of their early ..rtists,
and grace and feeling were forever prevented from forming a
feature of their sculpture ; and though they made great progress
in other branches of art, though they evinced considerable taste
in the forms of their vases, their furniture, and even in some archi-
tectural details, thev were forever deficient in the combination of
ideal l)eauty with the natural position of parts in the human figure.
One great impediment to the advancement of the statuary's
' Lucan (iii. 412), mcntioniiijr the sta- And Tacitus (de mor. Germ.) describes
tues of the gods of ISIassilia, says, — tiiose of the Germans as 'e stipitibits et
' Simulacraqiie miestu deoruni im)X)Iito roborc.'
Arte carent, caecisque extant iuforuiia - Pausanias, lib. ii. c. 19.
truncis.'
Chap. X.] STATUES. 269
art in Egypt was the unvarying posture of the figures, which
were always in a state of repose, or in a position that only re-
([uired the limbs to be straight, without any attempt at action,
or indeed any indication of life : they were really statues of the
person they represented, not the person ' living in marble,' in
which they differed entirely from those of Greece. No statue of
a warrior was sculptured in the varied attitudes of attack and
defence ; no wrestlers ; no discobolus, except one in the Tombs of
the Kings ; no pugilist exhibited the grace, the vigor, or the
muscular action of a man ; nor were the beauties, the feeling, and
the elegance of female forms displayed in stone : all was made to
conform to the same invariable model, which confined the human
figure to a few conventional postures.
A sitting statue, whether of a man or woman, was represented
with the hands placed upon the knees, or held across the breast ;
a kneeling figure sometimes supported a small shrine or sacred
emblem ; and when standing, the arms were placed directly down
the sides to the thighs, one foot being advanced beyond the other,
as if in the attitude of walking, but without any attempt to
separate the legs. [Groups were exceedingly rare, and seldom
exceed two figures, generally husband and wife, seated on the
same seat or chair, holding one another's hands, or placing their
a-vms round one another's waists or on the shoulders. Occa-
sionally the principal figure is seated or standing, and the other
younger or inferior members of the family carved in small pro-
portions at the sides. The seated figures are in the attitude of
a man resting on his haunches, his hands brought up to his chin,
and the greater part of his body covered with drapery from which
the hands alone emerge, or else seated on a chair or throne, the
hands brought down to the thighs. An attitude more rarely seen
is tliat of a man seated on his legs upon the ground, unrolling and
reading a roll of papyrus. The kneeling figures are either kneel-
ing on both knees, their hands at the sides, or else holding before
them a shrine, altar, or some other object. The standing statues
have the left foot advanced, the hands pendent at the sides, and the
fists sometimes clenched, one holding a cylindrical roll or folded
sash or napkin, and, in the case of deities or deified kings, an
emblem of life. Another attitude of standing figures is that of
bringing back one hand upon the breast, and holding a sceptre
or other emblem.^ The figures of mummied deities or persons
1 Gliddon, ' Indigenous Races of Mankind,' 4to, 1857, p. 98 and foil.
270 THE AXCIEXT EGYTTIANS. [Chap X.
generally represent the deceased wrapped in bandages, the arms
emerging from them crossed, and holding emblems or other ob-
jects ; often they have a kind of upright tablet or slab, resembling
in some instances an obelisk, at the l^ack, which is attached to
them, and they stand on a square jilinth or pedestal. In all
these examples the parts between the legs in statues made of
stone are reserved or not cut away, said to be owing to the manner
of working by stunning out the limbs. The individual treatment
made the hair fall in vast masses almost to the shoulder, or else
in regular rows of curls from the centre of the head ; the eyes,
eyelashes, and l)rows prolonged in the direction of the ear ; the
eyelids sharp and shell-like ; the hole of the ear on a level with
the pupil of the eye ; the lii)S strongl}" marked and slightly
Nubian. The beard is conventional. The form on the whole is
slender ; the features calm, without sentiment or emotion. In bas-
relief and cavo-rilievo profile is used by preference, as more
distinct to the eye of the spectator. The drapery and other ad-
juncts varied according to time, rank, and circumstances.^ — S. B.]
' The feet,' says Winkelmanu,'^ ' of the Egyptian differ from
those of the Greek statues in being more flat and broad, and in
having the toes perfectly straight, with the joints as little indicated
as in the fins'ers, and a gradual diminution in their leno-th : nor
is the little toe curved or bent under, as in those of the Greeks.'
This last remark is just, and their mode of representing it accords
with wdiat they saw in nature ; but the length of the toes of an
Egyiitian foot do not undergo a gradual diminution, the second
being invariably made longer than any other, which too agrees
with the natural form. The reason of this uniformity I have
already explained: and it is probable that, if their genius had
not been cramped by sui)erstitious prejudice, the Egyptians
would have excelled in painting and sculpture, and the imi-
tation of the liuman figure have kept pace witli their ad-
vancement in other points.^
1 ' Guide to the E;:cyptian Galleries of at ditVerent periods, l)iit which only affected
the British Museum,' jip. Ifj-lS. the ])roportions and not the mode of treat-
- W'inkclmann, i. p. 110. nient. The oiilcst canon, which dates as
3 Since this has been written, the ex- early as the 3d Dynasty, reckoned the
cellence of Kg'yptian art in portraiture, and projier hciuht of the human litrure from
the hiy:h state which it had reached under the sole of the foot to the crown of the
the earlier dynasties, has l)een demon- head, and the subdivisions were made one-
str.ated by tlie remarkable statues dis- half or one-third of the foot. A chanj^e
covereii of the a^'e of the 3d and follow- took place at the time of the 12th Dynasty,
in^ dynasties. The sculptors, indeed, dividinjr the height into eijihteen parts, or
vorkcil by a hieratic canon, which varied square of half the foot. This continued
Chap. X.] CONVENTIONALITY. 271
No accidents, arising from the consequences of invasion or
from any other cause, were ever capable of changing their fixed
reverence for prescribed forms ; nor do we find, after the Greek
and Roman conquests, that any deviation from established custom
was tolerated, or that any innovation was introduced from com-
munication with those foreigners, however superior their art,
and however evident its resemblance to the originals which
nature daily presented to their eyes. After the accession of the
Ptolemies, Greek art became well known in Egypt, and every
opportunity was given to their artists to improve from the best
models; but no change was effected by this intercourse with the
Greeks ; and when Adrian wished divine honors to be paid to
his favorite Antinous, and statues to be erected to his memory,
no form Avas admitted but that which religious usage had estab-
lished and Egyptian models prescribed.
Though the general character of painting and sculpture con-
tinued the same, and a certain conventional mode of represent-
ing the human figure was universally adopted throughout the
country, which was followed by every artist through successive
ages, from the earliest Pharaonic era until the religion of Egypt
was supplanted by the final establishment of Christianity, it is
reasonable to suppose that several styles were introduced, and
that the genius of artists varied considerably during that length-
ened period. Plato's assertion is therefore to be taken in a
limited and general sense, signifying that the Egyptians follow^ed
the same conventional forms, and that no nearer approach to the
beau ideal of the human figure was made at one period than
anotlier. This is perfectly true ; but every eye accustomed to
Egyptian drawipg readily perceives the difference between
subjects executed during the Augustan age of art, the reigns of
Rameses the Great and his father Osirei, and those of a Ptolemaic
epoch. Truth may be wanting, as it necessarily must be where
nature is not copied ; but there are a grace and boldness in the
outline, as well as in the execution of the sculptures of the former
period, which at once indicate the work of superior genius.
The hieroglyphics on the obelisks of that epoch proclaim the
same fact ; and in architecture the temples erected by the great
till the 22d Dynasty. The heisfht above to the crown of the head. Althoujrh this
one-sixth of the foot was not reckoned. A chanoe was not very jjreat, it yet shows
third canon, which prevailed at the time of that Ejryptian art was not one" of entire
the 22d Dynasty and subsequcntlv. made immutalJillty. — S. B.
twenty-one" parts from the sole of the foot
272 THE ANCIENT EGYPTIANS. [Chap. X.
Rameses far surpass in elegance and grandeur, in harmony of
pru})urti(Mi and siniplieity of style, the monuments of any previous
or subsequent era. It cannot, however, be denied that in the
time of Usertesen and at the commencement of the 18th Dynasty,
Egyptian art flourished greatly, and monuments of that age also
claim our admiration fortaste,simplicity, and symmetry of details.
And if some fanciful innovations were introduced in the buildings
of the third Thothmes, they are attributable to momentary caprice
and not to be looked upon as a change in the architecture of that
period. This I shall have occasion to mention hereafter.
The paintings at Beni-Hassan are certainly far inferior to those
of the age of Rameses, or of the early part of the 18th Dynast}-;
but the style of the hieroglyphics on some other monuments of
the Usertesen epoch, as the obelisk of Heliopolis, show that
sculpture has greatly advanced at that remote period ; and if
historical bas-reliefs had been preserved, we might discover
still more to prove the skill of the artists of the same era.
Few paintings or sculptures remain of an age prior to the
accession of Usertesen I., whom I suppose to have been the con-
temporary of Joseph, and to have ascended the throne about the
year 1740 B.C. The tombs in the vicinity of the Pyramids, and
those I discovered hewn in the rock near Qasr e'Syad, the ancient
Chenoboscion, are certainly anterior to the grottoes of Beni-
Hassan ; and the style of the masonry, as well as the names of
the kings found there, show that the former were the places
of sepulture of individuals who lived in the time of Suphis and
his immediate successors. They, therefore, date about the year
2090 and 2050 b c, upwards of a century before the arrival of
Abraham in Egypt, if, as I suppose, the })atriarch came to that
country during the reign of Apappus.
It is evident that the tombs built of stone, which stand in
the area before and behind the Great Pyramid, ^ were erected after
it had been commenced, if not comj)leted, as their position is
made to conform to that monument ; and that those hewn in the
rock at the same, place were not of an older period is shown by
tlie style of the sculptures and the names of the same kings.
Among these we evidently perceive Suphis, or, as the hiero-
1 It is rciiii»rkal)le that Mcm)'liis is from Ma-fi-nofri, ' the abode of {rood,' or
styled 'tlic land of the pyramid' Its as Plutarch calls it, 'the haven of g-ood
Egyptian name in the liieronlyphics is men.' It was also ealled Pthah-ei, the
Menefer, in Coptic Memfi, Manfil ^[emhe, abode of Pthah. (Woodcut No. 419; ,figs.
Panoiifi, or Mefi, being probably corrupted 5, 6, 7, 8.)
Chap. X,]
EARLY SCULPTURES.
273
glyphics write it, Shufu or Kliufu, a name easily converted into
Suphis or Cheops, by adding .y, the Greek termination. ^ But it
is cliihcult, as 1 have already observed, to refer them to their
proper epoch, or to fix their relative position in the list of kings.
Nor can we decide whether the first two names here introduced
^i
i
t°i
ni
alb
3
6
:1
8
No. -lUt. 1. n, &, the name of Shufu, or Suphis. 2. Numba-khuf u, or Chembes. 3. Asseskaf,
or Shepeskaf. 4. Shafra, Khafra, or Kephren. 5, 6. The name of Memphis.
7, 8, (Memphis, or) Ptah-e'i, the abode of Ptah.
From the Tombs near the Pyramids.
are both of Suphis, or if the second is of the founder of the
other pyramid, whose name AS'ew-Suphis signifies the brother of
Suphis ; though they certainly appear to be of different kings,
who lived about the same epoch.^
They occur again at Mount Sinai, and the former has the
banner or square title given in the woodcut,^ which would satis-
factorily decide this question if it should ever be found with the
other name. For these square banners, as I have already shown
in a former work,* relate to the kings and not to the deities : and
though the learned and ingenious Champollion expressed a dif-
ferent opinion in his ' Precis,' ^ he was afterwards convinced of
this fact, which is now universally admitted.
The other names in these tombs are of the same remote period ;
and though there is no positive proof of their relative antiquity,
1 As I have observed already.
2 The readinjj Sen-Suphis is now aban-
doned by all scholars, and considered to be
Suphis II.
3 Woodcut Xo. 419, Jig. 1, b.
4 Materia Hierog., Extracts from Hiero-
glyiiliical Subjects, p. 7: 'One more re-
mark I have to otfer, which, I confess, is
not at all consonant with the ideas of Dr.
Younu^ and M. OliunipoUion : that the
stpiare beneath the hawk, containing some-
times a bull and arm, sometimes other
devices, does not refer to the god in whose
honor the monument was raised, but to
the king, whose name alivays follows it ;
and to this I have been led l)y the follow-
ing circumstance wherever a king has
erased the name of a predecessor, and in-
VOL. II. 18
scribed his own in its stead, the hieroglyph-
ics in tliis square have also been erased
and changed : they cannot, therefore, refer
to the god to whom the building was
erected ; otherwise the dedication aud
otiier sculptures containing liis name would
also be altered throughout the same monu-
ment. We should likewise find all the
different names of kings in the same
temple, preceded by a square containing
the same devices, as relating to the deity
of that temple, which is 7ioi the case.' I
have also shown (in p. 8) that the Koaripoi
' Att61?.ii)v is Phrah, or Pharaoh, the king in
the character of the sun. ('Egypt and
Thebes,' p. 5.)
5 'Precis du Svsteme hie'roiilvphique,'
p. 152.
274
THE ANCIENT EGYPTIANS.
[Chap. X.
we may conclude they belonged to the immediate successors oJ
Su[)his and his brother. It is remarkable that in some instances
they are preceded by, and in others destitute of regal titles, and
^
mn
€41+
u
a
1? >M
No. 420.
Names of ancient kings.
fV/. 1. Nefer kar i-a ar. Ra amakhu. Ra en user. 2. Ra amakhii. Khnumba Khufu.
Nofei- kar ra Ar; at the tombs near the Pyramids. 3. At Sa<iqara and Mount Sinai: Tat kara.
4. Ranieri ka, at E'Sioot. 5, 6. At C'henoboscion. a lias been cut over d. a, b, c, seem to
have reigned in succession. 7. Pepi. Xefarkara : at Wady Maghara, near Mount Sinai. S,
Pepi. 9. Merenra, on the Kossayr road. The characters h, b, in jig. 1, signify ' priest.'
Chap. X.] EARLY SCULPTURES. 275
sometimes they appear to have the word 'priest ' prefixed to them,
like those atChenoboscion. Three of the names, however, are so
arranged, that we may suppose they indicate the order in which
the kings ruled, though the arrangement is different in another
part of the same tomb, where tlie name of Suphis, or of Sen-
Suphis, intervenes between two of them.^
At Saqqara other tombs of the same early period occur, and
some of the grottoes of E'Sioot probably date long before the
accession of Usertesen. The former have a name, which, like
most of these, bears in its simplicity the character of great
antiquity, and in the latter is that of another ancient monarch ;
but neither of them ^ can be traced in the chamber of kings at
Karnak.
The most interesting, after those at the Pyramids, are the
names in the grottoes of Chenoboscion, not only from their anti-
quity, — ' which ' as I have observed,-^ ' may vie with that of any
other catacomb or monument in Egypt, if we except the Pyra-
mids and the tombs in their vicinity,' — but from their being-
placed in chronological order, and from the circumstance of a
king having erased one of them, and introduced his own name
in its stead."* The title applied to them is not 'king,' but 'priest,'
though the name is enclosed in an oval, the symbol of royalty ;
and tliat they really had the rank and appellation of king is
shown by the same names occurring elsewhere with the usual
royal prefix, and even the square title.
Tlie first ^ of these is the name to which I alluded as having
been erased to admit that of another monarch : it reads Ramai,
or Maira, or ' the beloved of the son.' The other is Papi,^ a
name which occurs in Egyptian history, being borne, according
to Manetho, by the father of the priest Amenophis, who lived
in the time of the Shepherds.'^
Several tablets ^ and monumental records of king Papi ^ have
been preserved ; and on the rocks of the Kossayr road his name
occurs in the same inscription with that of Ramai, who is else-
where shown to have reigned sixteen years. It is remarkable
1 Woodcut No. 420, fig. 1, a and c. and " Joseph, contra Ap. i. 26. Cory's valu-
fig. 2, where h comes between a and c able collection of ' Ancient Fragments,' p.
- Figs. 3, a, and 4. 176.
3 'Egypt and Thebes,' pp. 401, 402. ** There is one in the British Museum.
■* Woodcut No. 420, fig. 5, a and c, and 9 papi, or rather Pepi, is the king- with
d cut over by a. the prrenoraen Maira, and the Pheops or
5 Fig. f), a. Apappus of the Greek lists of the 6th
6 Fig. 5, d. Dynasty. — S. B.
276
THE A-N'CIENT EGYPTlANb.
[Chap. X.
that the two princes appear seated on their thrones in the hall
of assembly, wearing, one the crown of the upper, the other that
of the lower country ; ^ showing either that they were contem-
porary sovereigns, one ruling at Thebes and the other at Mem-
phis, or that Papi was the phonetic nomen of Ramai, and that
they were the same monarch.
The former is a point which has been long contested in
Egyptian history. Manetho evidently alludes to contemporary
dynasties when he speaks of the kings of the Thebai'd and the
rest of Egypt uniting in a common cause against the Shepherds ;2
and some chronologers
have endeavored to ac-
count for the long list of
Egyptian kings by sup-
posing that they ruled at
the same time in dif-
ferent parts of the coun-
try. This opinion was
suggested by the learned
Sir John Masham ; but,
Figures of kings wearing the crowu of Upper and tllOUgn COrrCCt aS lar aS
Lower Egypt, witli the names Ramai and Papi. -j. „^,,i;^„ 4.^ xk„ „„„!„
No. 421. Kossayrroayl. it applies tO tllC early
epochs of their history,
there is sufficient evidence to prove that, from the time of Ames
and Amenophis, the sovereignty of Upper and Lower Egypt
continued to be vested in one person, whether the royal residence
was at Thebes, Memphis, or Sais ; and even if Pajji has erased
the name of his contemporary Ramai, though it appears more
probable that these are the prsenomeii and nomen of the same
king, he may only have reunited the two crowns, which had
been previously separated ; for that Menes was sole monarch of
all Egypt appears to have been universally allowed ; and the
division of the kingdom was, perhaps, owing to the preference of
his son Athothes for the new capital founded by his father, which
caused the court to be transferred to Memphis.
In noticing these ancient names, it is necessary to repeat a
remark I have previously had occasion to make,^ that the custom
of affixing a praiiioinen to the phonetic nomen was not introduced
in early times, and that jNIenes and many other kings had merely
1 Woodcut No. 421 ; see also woodcut
No. 420, fffs. 0 and 8.
2 Cory, p. 171.
* Materia liierogl., Extracts
Chap. X.] EARLY SCULPTURES. 277
one oval, containing their name, preceded by the title 'king,'
* lord of the world,' or other regal prefix. Ramai and Papi might
therefore be different kings, each with a single oval ; and, if they
really are the same person, we have probably here the first in-
stance of the introduction of a nomen : for there can be no doubt
of the great antiquity of these names from the appearance of the
grottoes and monuments where they occur, and the many col-
lateral facts connected with the succeeding monarchs.
It may not be irrelevant to suggest that the hieroglyphics
forming the name of Papi ma}^ also read Apap or Aphoph,i the
Apophis or Apappus or Manetho and Eratosthenes. The era at
which he lived, about a century after the time of Supliis, well
accords with that of Papi ; and if this be admitted, we have
evidence of the style of sculpture at another fixed period, the
arrival of Abraham in Egypt.
Both the names of Papi and Remeren are found in the cham-
ber of kings at Karnak, and in other lists.
I have entered thus into detail upon the antiquity of these
kings, with a view to ascertain a period when the art of painting
and sculpture was in a less advanced state than under the kings
of the 18th Dynasty. In the tombs near the Pyramids, and those
of Chenoboscion, Ave find the same agricultural and other scenes
represented which usually occur in the sepulchral chambers of
the Theban necropolis; and this gives an opportunity of judging
of the comparative state of art at those two. periods, which are
separated b}^ an interval of from five to six hundred years. The
mode of treating those subjects is certainly very inferior even to
that of the Usertesen era, particularly at Chenoboscion ; but some
allowance must be made for sculptures executed by provincial
artists, who had not attained the excellence of those of Thebes
and Memphis. And the same apology may be offered for the
paintings of Beni-Hassan.
At the tombs of the Pyramids we likewise observe an infe-
riority of style, compared with the elegance and taste of the 18th
Dynasty; and the epochs of Suphis, of Usertesen, of the early
part of the 18th Dynasty, and of Seti and Rameses the Great,
may be looked upon as the four known gradations through which
the arts passed from mediocrity to excellence.
After the reign of Rameses the Great the arts remained
stationary ; the peaceful or inactive reigns of his successors
1 Aphoph is 'a giaut ' in Coptic. It is translated 'Maximns.'
278 THE ANCIENT EGYPTIANS. [Chap. X.
offered little encouragement to sculpture, and few opportunities
were given to artists to improve, or even to exercise their talents.
The ambition, the warlike spirit, or the indignation of the third
Rameses, roused by the rebellion of the conquered provinces of
Asia, which had been subdued and rendered tributary by his
victorious predecessor, once uku'C awakened the dormant genius
of his country; and, as it frequentl}' happens that great militar}-
events, as well as internal convulsious, produce great develop-
ment of talent, we are not surprised that the success whicli
attended his arms should have benefited the arts. The same
remark a})plies, and in a greater degree, to the glorious era of
Osirei and his son; and at no period of Egy])tian history did the
arms of the Pharaohs attain greater celebrity, (jr the arts reach.
a higher degree of perfection, than in the reign of the Great
Kameses.
As soon as the third Rameses had returned from his successful
expedition into Asia, sculpture and painting were called upon to
commemorate the triumphs he had gained, and to record the
victories of his country on the walls of the splendid edifices of
Thebes. The sculptures in the palace-temple of Medeenet Haboo,
erected by this uKuiarch, display a degree of spirit which is onh'
surpassed in those of his great namesake and predecessor ; and so
little do they fall short of the stjde of that period that few who
have not entered into the real feeling of Egyptian drawing can
observe in what their inferiority consists.
In order that the reader may form some idea of the nature of
the subjects represented on the walls of the Egyptian temples,
and the profusion of painted sculptures with which they were
ornamented, I shall introduce a description of the palace-temple
of Rameses III. at Medeenet Haboo, from my ' Egypt and
Thebes.' i
' On the east or northeast wall (of the inner area), Rameses
is borne in his shrine or canopy, seated on a throne, ornamented
with the figures of a lion and a sphinx, wliich is preceded by a
hawk.2 Behind him stand two figures of Truth ^ and Justice,
with outspread wings. Twelve Egyptian princes, sons of the
king,"* bear the shrine; officers ^ wave ihiln'Ua around the moiiarcli :
1 'Egypt and Thches,' p. 61, et seq. ' They are always distinguished by a
- The emblem of the king as Phrah badge appended IVnni their head-dro=s. en-
(Pharaoh). closing, probat)ly. the lock of hair, u-jui.;;/
3 This refers to the double character of denoting son or cliild
this goddess, my authority for whose name ^ Probably the I'terophon.
I have given in my ' Materia Ilierog.' p. 45.
Chap. X.] SCULPTURES OF RAMESES III. 279
and others, of the sacerdotal order, attend on either side, carrying
his arms and insignia. Four others follow ; then six of the sons
of the king, behind whom are two scribes and eight attendants
of the military class, bearing stools and the steps of the throne.
' In another line are members of the sacerdotal order, four
other of the king's sons, fan-bearers, and military scribes ; a,
guard uf soldiers bringing up the rear of the procession.
Before the shrine, in one line, march six officers, bearing scep-
tres and other insignia ; in another, a scribe reads aloud the
contents of a scroll he holds unfolded in his hand, preceded by
two of the king's sons and two distinguished persons of the
military and priestly orders. The rear of both these lines is
closed by a pontiff,^ who, turning round towards the shrine,
burns incense before tli_ monarch ; and a band of music, com-
posed of the trumpet, drum, double-pipe, and other instruments,
with choristers, forms the van of the procession.
' The king, alighted from his throne, officiates as priest before
the statue of Amen Khem, or Amenra generator; and, still wear-
ing his helmet,^ he presents libations and incense before the altar,
which is loaded with flowers and other suitable offerings. The
statue of the god, attended by officers bearing flabella,^ is carried
on a palanquin, covered with rich drapery, by twenty-two priests ;
behind it follow others, bringing the table and the altar of the
deity. Before the statue is the sacred bull, followed by the king
on foot, wearing the cap of the " lower country." Apart from the
procession itself stands the queen, as a spectator of the ceremony ;
and before her, a scribe reads a scroll he has unfolded. A priest
turns round to offer incense to the white bull ; and another,
clapping his hands, brings up the rear of a long procession of
hieraphori, carrying standards, images, and other sacred emblems,
and the foremost bear the statues of the king's ancestors.
' This part of the picture refers to the coronation of the king,
who, in the hieroglyphics, is said to have " put on the crown of
the upper and lower countries ; "' which the birds, flying to the
four sides of the world, are to announce to the gods of the south,
north, east, and west.* Such appears to be the meaning of this
ceremony, rather than the triumph of the king; and the presence
1 Not the ' eldest son of the kinsr,' as jNI. fore the Pope at the present day.
Champollion supposes. '^ Ilerod. ii. 151. •) [Or 'the four winds,' as in Mark xiii.
3 The lartrer of these are, in fact, urn- 27; Matt. xxiv. 31. — G W.] 1 am in-
hrellas ; the smaller ones fans or fly traps. debted for the construntion of this part of
Flabella ol a similar kind are carried be- it to M. Champullion's letter.
280 TH^ AXCIEXT EGYPTIANS. [Chap X.
of Kame.ses, wearing for the fir>it time the above-nieiitioiied
crown, and the great anahtgy between this and part of the text
of the Kosetta Stone, fully justify this opinion.
'In the next compartment the president of the assembly reads
a long invocation, the contents of which are contained in the
hieroglyphic inscription above ; and the six ears of corn ^ which
the king, once more wearing his helmet, has cut with a golden
sickle, are held out by a priest toward the deity. The white
bull and images of the king's ancestors are deposited in his
temple, in the presence of Amen Khem, the queen still witness-
ing the ceremony, which is concluded by an offering of incense
and libation made by Rameses to the statue of the god.
'In the lower compartment, on this side of the temple, is a
procession of the arks of Amenra, ]\Iut, and Khonsu (the Theban
triad), which the king, whose ark is also carried^ before him,
comes to meet. In another part the gods Abtaut and Hat pour
alternate emblems of life and power over the king ; and, on the
south wall, he is introduced by several divinities into the pres-
ence of the patron deities of the temple.
'In the upper part of the west wall Rameses makes offerings
to Pthah Sokari and to Knei)h ; in anotlier compartment he
burns incense to the ark of Sokari ; and near this is a tablet
relatino- to the offerinars made to the same deit\'. The ark is
then borne by sixteen priests, with the pontiff and another of
the sacerdotal order in attendance.
'The king afterwards joins in another procession formed by
eight of his sons and four chiefs, behind whom two priests turn
round to offer incense to the monarch. The hawk, the emblem
of the king, or of Ilorus, precedes them, and eighteen priests
carry the sacred emblem of the god Nefur Atmu, which usually
acconi[)anies the ark of Sokari.
'On the south \A'all niai'ches a long procession, composed of
hieraphori, bearing different standards, thrones, arks, and insignia,
with musicians, who precede the king and his attendants. The
figure of the deity, is not introduced, perhaps intimating that
this forms part of the religious pomp of the corresponding wall ;
and, from the circumstance of the king here wearing the pshenU
it is not impossible it may also allude to his coronation.
'The commencement of the interesting historical subjects of
Medeenet Hal mo is in the southwest corner of this court, on the
1 A fit einhleiu for an agricultural people. ~ Rosetta Stone.
Chap. X.J SCULPTURES OF RAMESES III. 281
inner face of the tower. Here Rameses, standing in his car, which
his horses at full speed carry into the midst of the enemy's
ranks, discharges his arrows on their flying infantry. The Egyp-
tian chariots join in the pursuit ; and a body of their allies ^ assist
in slaughtering those who oppose them, or bmd them as captives.
The right hands of the slain are then cut off as trophies of victory.
' The sculptures on the west wall are a continuation of the
scene. The Egyptian princes and generals conduct the "• captive
chiefs " into the presence of the king. He is seated at the back
of his car, and the spirited horses are held by his attendants on
foot. Large heaps of hands are placed before him, which an
officer counts, one by one, as the other notes down their number
on a scroll ; each heap containing three thousand, and the total
indicating the returns of the enemy's slain. The number of
captives, reckoned 1000 in each line, is also mentioned in the
hieroglyphics above, where the name of the Rebo '^ points out the
nation against whom this war was carried on. Their flowing
dresses, striped horizontally with blue or green bands on a white
ground, and their long hair and aquiline nose, give them the
character of an Eastern nation in the vicinity of Assyria and
Persia, as their name reminds us of the Rhibii of Ptolemy, whom
he places near the Caspian and the north bank of the Oxus. . . .
A long hierogylphic inscri2:)tion is placed over the king ; and a
still longer tablet, occupying a great part of this wall, refers to
the exploits of the Egyptian conqueror, and bears the date of his
fifth year.
'■ The suite of this historical subject continues on the south
wall. The king, returning victorious to Egypt, proceeds slowly
in his car,^ conducting in triumph the prisoners he has made,
who walk beside and before it, three others being bound to the
axle. Two of his sons attend as fan-bearers, and the several
regiments of Egyptian infantry, with a corps of their allies, under
the command of three other of these princes, marching in regular
step and in the close array of disciplined troops, accompany their
king. He arrives at Thebes, and presents his captives to Amenra
and Mut, the deities of the city, who eompliment him as usual
on the victory he has gained, and the overthrow of the enemy he
has " trampled beneath his feet."
1 The same wliom this monarch is rep- '- Now considered to be Lebu, that of
resented as haviny vanquished in another the Libyans. — S. B
battle-scene of this temple. 3 Plate V.
282 ' THE ANCIEXT EGrPTlANb. [Cuap. X
' On the north wall the king presents offerings to different
gods, and below is an ornamental kind of border ; composed of a
procession of the king "s sons and daughters. Four of the former,
his immediate successors, bear the asp or basilisk, the emblem of
majesty, and have their kingly ovals added to their names. . . .
' If the sculptures of the area arrest the attention of the
antiquary, or excite the admiration of the traveller, those of the
exterior of this building are no less interesting in an historical
point of view, and the north and east walls are covered with a
profusion of the most varied and instructive subjects.
'At the northeast extremity of the end wall a trumpeter
assembles the troops, who salute the king as he passes in his car.
In the first compartment on the east side Rameses advances at a
slow pace in his chariot, attended by fan-bearers, and preceded
by his troops. A lion, running at the side of the horses, reminds
us of the account given of Osymandyas, who was said to have
been accompanied in war by this animal • and another instance
of it is met with at E'Dayr, in Nubia, among the sculptures of
the second Rameses.
' Second comparfyneni. — He continues his march,^ his troops
leading the van, and a trumpeter summons them to form for tlie
attack.
' Third compartment. — The Rebo await the Eg^-ptian in-
vaders in the open field ; the king presses forward in his car,
and, drawing his bow, gives the signal for the attack. Several
regiments of Egyptian archers, in close array, advance on
different })oints and harass them with showers of arrows. The
chariots rush to the charge ; and a body of Asiatic allies ^ main-
tain the combat hand to hand with the Rebo, who are at length
routed, and Hy before their victorious aggressors. Some thousands
are left dead on the field, whose hands,^ being cut off, are brought
by the Egyptian soldiers as proofs of their success. Three
thousand five hundred and thirty-five hands and tongues form
part of the registered returns ; and two other heaps, and a third
of tongues, containing each a somewhat larger number, are
deposited under the superintendence of the chief officers, as
- This evidently denotes the distance from their neck, reminds us of a custom
marched by the JEpryptians before they very usual among the nations of the East,
rcafhed the enemy's country. Woodcnit No. 10, fig. 2, and woodcut No.
- Tliey are tlie Sliairetana, a maritime 76, fig. 6, a and b.
people, whose features and high furred 3 The Turks, at the present day, cut ofi
caps particularly denote their Asiatic the right ear.
origin ; and a large amulet, suspended
Chap. X.] SCULPTURES OF RAMESES III. 283
trophies of victory, The monarch then alights from his chariot,
and distributes rewards to his troops.
' In tlie next compartment the king's military secretaries
draw up an account of the number of spears, bows, swords, and
other arms taken from the enemy, which are laid before them ;
and mention seems to be made in the hieroglyphics of the horses
that have been captured.
" liameses then proceeds in his car, having his bow and sword
in one hand and his whip in the other, indicating that his nuirch
still lies through an enemy's country. The van of his army is
composed of a body of chariots ; the infantry in close order,
preceding the royal car, constitute the centre ; and other similar
corps form the flank and rear.
' They are again summoned by sound of trumpet to the attack
of another Asiatic enemy ; ^ and, in the next compartment, the
Egyptian monarch gives oijlers for the charge of the hostile
army, which is drawn up in the open plain. Assisted by their
allies, the Shairetana, a maritime people armed with round
bucklers and spears, they fall upon the undisciplined troops of
the enemy, who after a short conflict are routed, and retreat in
great disorder. The women endeavor to escape with their
children on the first approach of the Egyptians, and retire in
plaustra^ drawn b}' oxen.-^ The flying chariots denote the
greatness of the general panic, and the conquerors pursue them
to the interior of the country. Here, while passing a large
morass, the king is attacked by several lions,* one of which,
transfixed with darts and arrows, he lays breathless beneath his
horse's feet ; another attempts to fly towards the jungle, but,
receiving a last and fatal wound, writhes in the agony of
approaching death.^ A third springs up from behind his car,
and the hero prepares to receive it and check its fury with his
spear.
1 The Takkarui, or supposed Teucri. * One author has supposed this to repre-
2 They were used in Egypt from the sent a lion chase ; another has discovered
earliest times, and are mentioned in Genesis in it the lion of Osymandyas, which assisted
xlv. 19, <&c. Strabo also speaks of them, him in battle. We have frequently known
lib. xvii. They are the more remarkable sportsmen shoot their own dogs," but no-
here, as putting lis in mind of a custom thing justifies a similar opinion with regard
very prevalent among some Eastern na- to the king on this occasion.
trons, of posting their wagons in the rear 5 The position of the lion is very charac-
when going to battle. The Tartars of teristic of the impotent fury of the disabled
later times were noted for this custom. animal. (Jf the third little is seen but
3 With the hump of Indian cattle. The}- part of the fore-paw; the attitude of the
seem to have l)een formerly very common king supplies the rest.
ill Egypt also, as they are at present in
ii.o:dcfan and Sennar.
284 THE ANCIENT EGYPTIANS. [Chap. X.
' Below this group is rejjresented the march of the Egyptian
army, with their allies, the Shairetaiia, the Sha . . . and a third
corps, armed with clubs, whose form and character are but
imperfectly preserved.
' The enemy, having continued their rapid retreat, take
refuge in the ships of a maritime nation,^ to whose country they
have retired for shelter. The Egyptians attack them with
a fleet of galleys . . . and, bearing down their opponents,
succeed in boarding them, and taking several prisoners. One
of the hostile galleys is upset ; and the slingers in the tops, with
the archers and spearmen on the prows, spread dismay among
the few who resist. The king, tram})ling on the prostrate bodies
of the enemy, and, aided by a corps of bowmen, discharges from
the shore a continued shower of arrows : and his attendants stand
at a short distance with his chariot and horses, and await his
return. Below this scene, the conquering army leads in triumph
the prisoners of the two nations they have captured in the naval
fight, and the amputated hands of the slain are laid in heaps
before the military chiefs. . . . In the next compartment,
the king distributes rewards to his victorious troops, and, then
proceeding to Egypt, he conducts in trinmph the captive Rebo
and 'J'sekkaru, whom he offers to the Theban triad, Amen, Mut,
and Konshu.
' In the compartments above these historical scenes the king
makes suitable offerings to the gods of Egypt ; and, on the
remaining part of the east wall, to the south of the second
})ropylon, another war is represented.
' In the first picture the king, alighted from his chariot,
armed with his spear and shield, and trampling on the prostrate
bodies of the slain, besieges the fort of an Asiatic enemy, whom
he forces to sue for peace. In the next he attacks a larger town
surrounded by water. The Egyptians fell the trees in the woody
country which surrounds it, probably to form testudoes and
ladders for the assault. Some are applied by their comrades to
the walls ; and, while they reach their summit, the gates are
broken open, and the enemy are driven from the ramparts, or
precipitated over the parapet by the victorious assailants, who
announce by sound of trumpet the capture of the place.
1 The Shaii-etana; part of the same people' may imply merely that they lived
people who joined the Efryptians as allies near a lar<re lake.
in this war. The expression ' maritime
Chap. X. | PAINTED ARCHITECTURE. 285
' In the third compartment, on the north face of the first
propylon, Rameses attacks two large towns, the upper one of which
is taken with but little resistance, the Egyptian troops having
entered it and gained possession of the citadel. In the lower one
the terrified inhabitants are engaged in rescuing their children
from the approaching danger by raising them from the plain
beneath to the ramparts of the outer wall. The last picture
occupies the upper or north end of the east wall, where the
king presents his prisoners to the gods of the temple. The
western wall is covered by a large hieroglyphical tablet,
recording offerings, made in the different months of the year, by
Rameses III.'
This may serve to give an idea of the profusion of sculpture
on the walls of an Egyptian temple. The whole was colored ;
and this variety served as a relief to the otherwise sombre
appearance of massive straight walls, which formed the exterior
of Egyptian temples. All the architectural details were likewise
painted ; and though a person unaccustomed to see the walls of a
large building so decorated might suppose the effect to be far
from pleasing, no one who understands the harmony of colors
will fail to admit that they perfectly understood their distribution
and proper combinations, and that an Egyptian temple was
greatly improved by the addition of painted sculptures.
In a work of so limited a scale as the present, it is impossible
to given an adequate notion of a large temple whose details are
so made up, or to give the general effect of this kind of cliiaro-
scuro ; but an idea may be conveyed of some of the parts from
the capitals of the columns.
The introduction of color in architecture was not peculiar to
the Egyptians : it was common to the Etrurians, and even to the
Greeks. For though the writings of ancient authors afford no
decided evidence of the practice in Greece, and the passages
adduced in support of it from Vitruvius,^ Pliny,^ and Pausanias;'^
are neither satisfactory nor conclusive, the fact of color having
been found on the monuments of Attica and Sicily is so well
authenticated, that no doubt can be entertained of certain parts.
1, Vitrnv. iv. 2; lib. vii. c. 9 and c. 5, after sayin": Phidias was oriu'inally a
where he shows the bad taste of the Ro- painter, adds that Pannseus assistecl in
mans in their mode of painting their painting" the ficrure of Olympian Jupiter,
houses. 3 Pausan. lib. v. Elis, c. xi. He men-
2 Plin. xx'xvi. 23; also lib. xvxv. c. 8, tions the works of the brother of Phidias,
where he again mentions Pannseus; and, whom he calls Panenus.
286 'i'HE ANCIENT EGYPTIANS. [Chap. X.
at least, of Greek temples, of tlie oldest and even of the best
periods, having been painted.
In the temple of Theseus at Athens vestiges of colors are
seen on the ground of the frieze, on the figures themselves, and
on the ornamental details.^ The Parthenon presents remains of
painting on some members of the cornice ; and the ground of the
frieze, above the interior of the peristyle, containing the reliefs
of the Panathenaic procession, was blue. The propylsea of the
Acropolis, the Ionic temple on the Ilissus, and the Choragic
monument of Lysicrates also offer traces of color ; and vestiges
of red, blue, and green have been discovered on the metopes of a
temple at Selinus in Sicily, b}" Messrs. Angell and Harris, who
excavated and examined the site of that ancient cit}' in 1823.
In one of these the figure of Minerva has the eyes and eyebrows
painted ; ^ her drapery and tlie girdle of Perseus are also
ornamented with colored devices, and the whole ground of this
and two other of the metopes is red.
Red and blue seem to have been generally used for the
ground ; and these two, with green, were the principal colors
introduced in Greek architecture, many members of which were
also gilt, as the shields, guttae, and other prominent details : and
many suj^pose that the shafts of columns were always white, the
colored parts being confined to the entablature and pediment.
In Egyptian buildings, indeed, it sometimes happened that
the shafts of columns were merely covered with white stucco,
without any ornament, and even without the usual line of
hieroglyphics ; and the same custom of coating certain kinds of
stone with stucco was common in Greece. The Egyptians always
put this layer of stucco, or paint, over stone, whatever its quality
might be, and we are surprised to find the beautiful granite of
obelisks and other monuments concealed in a similar manner :
the sculptures engraved upon them being also tinted either
green, blue, red, or other color, and frequentl}- one and the
same throughout.
Whenever they employed sandstone, it was absolutely
necessary to cover' it with a surface of a smciother and less
absorbent nature, to prevent the color being too readily iml)il)ed
by a so porous a stone ; and a coat of calcareous composition was
1 ' Transactions of the Institute of Rrit. of Kuj>ler, l\v \V. R. Hamilton, Esq., p. 8.5
Architects,' on the Polychroniy of Greek et seq.
Architecture, transhiteil from the (icrniau - ' Tlie Sculptured >retopes of Selinus,'
hy Messrs. Harris and Angell, p. 49.
Chap. X.] PAINT. —COLORS. 287
laid on before the paint was applied. When the subject was
scul[)tured, either in relief or intaglio, the stone was coated,
after the tigures were cut, with the same substance, to receive
the final coloring ; and it had the additional advantage of ena-
l)ling tlie artist to finish the figures and other objects with a
precision and delicacy in vain to be expected on the rough and
absorbent surface of sandstone.
The Egyptians mixed their paint with water, and it is prob-
able that a little portion of gum was sometimes added, to render
it more tenacious and adhesive. In most instances we find red,
green, and blue adopted ; a union which, for all subjects, and
in all parts of Egypt, was a particular favorite ; when black
was introduced, yellow was added to counteract or harmonize
with it ; and in like manner they sought for every hue its con-
genial companion.
In the examination of the colors used for painting the walls,
while at Thebes, I was led to the conjecture,^ that the reds and
yellows were ochres ; the blues and greens metallic, and pre-
pared from copper; the black an ivory or bone-black; and the
wliite a finely-levigated and prepared lime. I have since been
favored with an analysis of those brought by me from Thebes,
which my friend Dr. Ure has had the kindness to make, and
which I am happy in being able to introduce.
' The colors are green, blue, red, black, yellow, and white.
1st. The green pigment, scraped from the painting in distemper,
resists the solvent action of muriatic acid, but becomes thereby
of a brilliant blue color, in consequence of the abstraction of a
small portion of yellow ochreous matter. The residuary blue
poAvder has a sandy texture ; and when viewed in the micro-
scope is seen to consist of small particles of blue glass. On
fusing this vitreous matter with potash, digesting the compound
in diluted muriatic acid, and treating the solution witli water of
ammonia in excess, the presence of copper becomes manifest.
A certain portion of j^recipitate fell, which, being dissolved in
muriatic acid and tested, proved to be oxide of iron. We may
hence conclude that the green pigment is a mixture of a little
ochre with a pulverulent glass, made by vitrifying the oxides
of copper and iron with sand and soda. The vitreous green
coat upon the small Osiris figures, so numerous in the Egyptian
tombs of the earliest times, is a similar composition.
1 ' Egypt an<l Thebes,' p. 443.
288 TUE ANCIENT E(;YrTlAN.S. [Chap. X.
' The green color, washed from the stone with a sponge and
afterwards evaporated, consists of blue glass in powder, mixed
with a little ochre, and particles of colorless glass, to which it
owes its brighter hue.
'2. The blue ^pigment scraped from the stone is a jiulver-
ulent blue glass of like composition, without the ochreous
admixture, brightened with a little of the chalky matter used
in the distemper preparation.
' 3. The red pigment obtained by washing the colored stone
in the tombs of the kings with a wet sponge, and evaporating
the liquid to dryness, when treated with water evinces the
presence of glutinous gummy matter.^ It dissolves readily, in
a great measure, in muriatic acid, and affords muriates of iron
and alumina. It is merely a red earthy bole.
• 4. The black pigment, washed off the stone in the same
manner with a sponge, is not affected by digestion in rectified
petroleum, and contains, therefore, no bitumen. It softens in
hot water immediately, and dissolves readily into a black liquid,
which evidently contains a gummy or mucilaginous matter.
When exposed to a red heat, upon a slip of platinum, it takes
tire, and burns with a fleeting white flame. The remaining
matter is difficult to incinerate, even under the blow[)ipe, and
then leaves a bulky grey ash. This residuum dissolves, with
very little effervescence, in hot muriatic acid. When ammonia
is dropped into this solution it causes a bulky precipitate, which
does not redissolve in excess of solution of potash. These
phenomena show the pigment in question to be bone-black
(mixed with a little gum). By another experiment, I found in
it traces of iron.
'5. The white pigment, scraped from the stone in the tombs
of the kings is nothing but a very pure t'lialk, containing hardly
any alumina, and a mere trace of iron.
'6. The yellow pigment is a yellow iron ochre.'
The oldest Egyptian sculptures on all large monuments were
in low relief, and, as usual, at every period, painted ; obelisks
and everything carved in hard stone,-^ some funeral tablets
1 It i- remarkaWc bow much the E^'-vp- 2 The Egyptian colors contain fsiuii;
tiannietliod of makintrthi-i color resembled but the quantity in these specnnen.s was
in principle that of our smalt. It atrrees owing- to my having- added it to form them
witii the fal-^e cyanvs of Theophrastus (s. into cakes.
9S), jiiventeil hv an Egyptian king, which, « Some few granite monuments are lu
he -ays, was lai'd on thicker tlian the native relief, but they are rare,
(or iapis-hizuli). Pliuy confounds the
two (xxxvii. 9).
g. 4^.
GAPITA1.S of COLUMNS
and a Piece of coloured Glass (Fi^?5.6.7.J
Ckap. X.] SCULPTURE. —INTAGLIO. 289
and other small objects being in intaglio. This style continued
in vogue until the time of Rameses II., who began to introduce
intaglio generally on large monuments, and even his ^battle-
scenes at Karnak and the Memnonium are executed in this
manner. The reliefs were little raised above the level of the
wall ; they had generally a flat surface, the edges softly rounded
off, in effect far surpassing the intaglio ; and it is to be regretted
that the best epoch of art, when design and execution were in
their zenith, should have abandoned a style so superior, which,
too, would have improved in proportion to the advancement of
that period.
Intaglio continued to be generally employed until the ac-
cession of the 26th Dynasty, when the low relief was again intro-
duced ; and in the monuments of Psammatichus and Amasis are
numerous instances of the revival of the ancient style. This
was afterwards universally adopted, and no return to intaglio
on large monuments was attempted, either in the Ptolemaic or
Roman periods.
The intaglio introduced by Rameses may, perhaps, be de-
nominated intaglio rilievato^ or relieved intaglio. The sides of
the incavo, which are perpendicular, are cut to a considerable
depth, and from that part to the centre of the figure (or whatever
is represented) is a gradual swell, the centre being frequently
on a level with the surface of the wall. On this all the parts of
the dress, features, or devices are delineated and painted ; and
even the perpendicular sides are ornamented in a corresponding
manner, by continuing upon them the adjoining details.^
In the reign of Rameses III. a change was made in the mode
of sculpturing the intaglios, which, as I have already observed,
consisted in carving the lower side to a great depth, while the
upper face inclined gradually from the surface of the wall till it
reached the innermost part of the intaglio ; it was principally
done in the hierogylphics, in order to enable a person standing
immediately beneath and close to the wall on which they were
sculptured, to distinguish and read them ; and the details upon
the perpendicular sides, above mentioned, had the same effect. ''
It was a peculiarity of style not generally imitated by the
successors of Rameses III., and hierogylphics bearing this char-
acter may serve to fix the date of monuments, wlierever thev
1 One of the great advantages of this destructive influences, such as the desert
style is that it protects the sculptures bv sand or wilful mutilation. — S. B.
preventing the bas-relief or field from
VOL. II. 19
290 THE ANCIENT EGYPTIANS. [Cuap. X.
are found, to the age of hat monarch. After his reign no great
encouragement a[)pears to have been given t(j the arts : the
subjects represented on the few monuments of the epoch inter-
vening between his death and the succession of the 2Gth Dynasty
are principally confined to the sacred subjects, in which no displa}'
of talent is shown ; and the records of Sheshonk's victories at
Karnak are far from partaking of the vigor of former times,
either in style or in the mode of treating the subject.
After the accession of the 2Gth Dynasty some attempt was
made to revive the arts, which had been long neglected ; and,
independent of the patronage of government, the wealth of
private individuals was liberally employed in their encourage-
ment. Public buildings were erected in many parts of Egypt,
and beautified with rich sculpture : the city of Sais, the royal
residence of the Pharaohs of that dynasty, was adorned with the
utmost magnificence ; and extensive additions were made to the
temples of Memphis, and even to those of the distant Thebes.^
The fresh impulse thus given to art, was not Avithout effect :
the sculptures of that jieriod exhibit an elegance and beauty
which might even induce some to consider them equal to the
productions of an earlier age ; and in the tombs of the Assase^f,
at Thebes, are many admirable specimens of Egyptian art. To
those, however, who understand the true feeling of this peculiar
school, it is evident, that though in minuteness and finish they
are deserving of the highest commendation, yet, in grandeur of
conception and in boldness of execution, they fall far short of
the sculptures of Osirei ^ and the second Kameses.
In forming an opinion of the different styles of Egyptian
sculpture, it is frequently difficult for an unpractised eye to
decide upon their peculiar merits, or their respective ages; and
in nothing, perhaps, has this been more fully demonstrated tlian
in the Isiac Table, now at Turin. Every one acquainted with
Egyptian art must be struck at first sight with the very modern
date and Roman origin of tins monument ; and the position of
the hierogylphics shows that the maker of it was ignorant of the
sul)iect he was treating. I should, theref(U-e, not have thought it
nccessar}' to notice so i)al})al)le a forgery, had not the learned
Winkelmann censured Bishop Warburton for a judicious remark,
1 The favorite material of the period play of that anatomical knowlctlpc of the
was basalt, black ami preen, especially the form visil)le in the oliler efforts of Ejryp-
last variety. There is a prcat suppleness tian sculpture. Tlie canon of proportion,
and softness in the limbs, i)Ut not the dis- too, is chanpeil. — S B. '-^ Seti I.
Chap. X. I SCULPTURE. — ARCHITECTURE, 291
ill which he is borne out l)y fact and for wliich he deserves great
credit. ' I cannot help,' says Winkelmaiiu,^ here noticing an
error of Warburton, who advances, that the famous Isiac Table of
bronze, inlaid with figures in silver, is a work made at Rome.
His opinion is destitute of foundation, and he only appears to
have adopted it because it suited his own system. Be it as it
may, this monument has all the character of the most ancient
Eg3'ptian style.' Justice must be done to the judgment of
Warburton, and a remark of this kind, made b}^ a person
of Winkelmann's reputation, is of too great weight to pass
unnoticed.
The invasion of Cambyses, as I have already stated, struck
a deathblow to the arts in Egypt. Sculptors, painters, and
artisans of every description, were taken from their country, and
sent to Persia by the victors to embellish the monuments of their
enemies with the records of their own misfortunes ; and in spite
of the encouragement afterwards given by the Ptolemies, the
spark of genius, then so nearly extinguished, could not be re-
kindled, and Egypt was doomed to witness the total decadence
of those arts for which she had been long renowned.
The sculptures of the Ptolemaic period are coarse and heavy,
deficient in grace and spirit, and totally wanting in the character
of the true Egyptian school, at the same time that they partake
of nothing Greek either in form or feeling ; for the Egyptians
never borrowed any notions on those points from the foreigners
with whom they had so long an intercourse throughout the
period of Greek and Roman ^ rule. The sculptures executed in
the time of the Ctesars are still more degraded in every respect ,
and so low did they fall at this jieriod, that many do not claim a
rank above those of the hublest village tombstone. Still the
architecture continued to be grand and majestic, and many of
the monuments of a Ptolemaic and Roman era merit a better
style of sculpture.
' Architecture,' as I have elsewhere observed,^ ' more de-
pendent on adherence to certain rules than the sister art, was
naturally less speedily affected by the decline of taste and
1 Winkelmann, ' Hist. clel'Art,' lib. ii. c. reliefs follow more closely the Efcyptian
1, s. 46. style. The architecture was florici, and
'^ There are very few statues extant, stands in about the same relation to the
except of monarchs of the Ptolemaic earlier styles as the Corinthian to the Doric,
period, and they all show the great influ- — S. B.
ence of Greek art and tj'pe. The bas- ^ < Etrypt and Thebes,' p. 163
292
THE ANCIENT EGYPTIANS.
IClIAP. X.
iiigenuit}' of its professors; and as long as encouragement was
held out to their exertions, the grandest edifices might be con-
structed from mere imitation, or from the knowledge of the means
necessar}' for their execution. But this could never be the case
with sculpture, which had so many more requisites than previous
example or long-established custom; nor could success be at-
tained by the routine of mechanism, or the servile imitation of
former models.'
It is remarkable that the architecture even of the early time
of Usertesen far excelled the sculpture of that da}' ; and the
grace and simplicity of the grottoes at Beni-Hassan, which call
to mind in their elegant columns the Doric character, must be
highly admired, even though seen amidst the grandeur of the
monuments of Rameses. These columns are 3 feet 4 inches in
No. 422. Section of one of the southern grottoes of Beui-Hassan.
diameter, and 16 feet 8^ inches high; ^ they have sixteen faces
or grooves, each about 8 inches wide, and so slight and elegant
that their depth does not exceed half an inch. One of the faces,
which is not hollowed into a groove, is left for tlie introduction
of a column of hieroglyphics.
The roofs of some of the grottoes of Beni-Hassan are cut into
a slight segment of a circle, in imitation of the arch, which, as
I have had occasion to observe, was probably known in Egypt
at this early period; and it is remarkable that the walls are
stained and sprinkled with color to give them the appearance
of red granite. This is the general character of the larger and
northernmost grottoes; the others differ, both in the form and
style of the columns, and in their general a[)})earance ; but the
transverse section of one of them will suffice to show the elegance
1 Woodcut No. 423, fgs. 2 and 3.
Chap. X.)
ARCHITECTURE.
293
of their depressed pediment —which extends, in lieu of archi-
trave, over the cohuuns of the interior — and the simplicity of
their general effect.
The most favorite Egyptian capitals ^ were those in form of
the full-blown water-plant, supposed by some to be the papyrus,
which was emblematic of the lower country, and the unopened
bud of the same, or of the lotus; and that this last gave the
original idea of the Doric capital is not improbable, since, by
^**|£-
1 2
No. 423. Fig. 1. ( 'uluinus iu the portico of the northern grottoes of Beni-Hassan.
ii. Columns of the interior.
3. Horizontal section of tig. 2, showing the grooves.
4. One of the grooves on a larger scale.
5. An Egyptian capital, which seems to have been the origin of the Doric, /.9. 6.
removing the upper part and bringing down the abacus, it
presents the same appearance as the early Greek style.^
Of painting, apart from sculpture, and of the excellence to
which it attained in Egypt, we can form no accurate opinion,
nothing having come down to us of a Pharaonic period, or of that
epoch when the arts were at their zenith in Egypt; but tliat
already in the time of Usertesen they painted on boards is shown
by one of the subjects at Beni-Hassan, where two artists are
1 Capitals of columns, Plate XIV. MSS. department of the British Museum.
There is a very valuable ' Synopsis of the — S. B.
Classification of Ptolemaic ('iipitals,' amonir "- Woodcut Xo. 423, Jigs. 5 and 6.
the newly -acquired ilav Collection in the
294
THE ANCIENT EGYPTIANS.
[Chap. X,
engaged on a picture, representing a calf and an antelope over-
taken by a dog. The painter liolds his brush in one hand, and
his palette or saticer of color m tlie otiier : but, thongh the
boards stand npright, there is no indication of a contrivance to
steady or support the liand.
No. 424. Artists painting on a board, and coloring a figure, ft, the word kat, ' paint.'
Beni-Hassan.
Mention is made of an Egyptian painting by Herodotus,^
who tells us that Amasis sent a portrait of himself to Cj'rene,
probably on wood ; and some, of uncertain period, have been
found in the tombs of Thebes. Three of these are preserved in
the British Museum, but they are evidently of (ireek time, and,,
perhaps, even after the conquest of Egypt by the Roiuans. It
is therefore vain to speculate on the nature of their painting, or
their skill in this l)ranch of art ; and though some of the portraits
taken from the mummies may prove that encaustic painting with
wax and naphtha were adopted in Egypt, the time when it
was first known there is uncertain, nor can we conclude from a
specimen of Greek time that the same was practised in a
Pharaonic age.
Pliny states, in his chai)ter on Inventions,'-^ that ' Gyges, a
Lydian, was the earliest [)ainter in Egypt ; and Eucheir, a cousin
of Daedalus, according to Aristotle, the first in Greece ; or, as
Theophrastus thinks, Polygnotus the Athenian.' But the paint-
ing represented at Bcni-Hassan evidently dates before any of
those artists. Pliny, in another ])lace,''^says, 'The origin of paint-
ing is uncertain : the Egyptians [)retend that it was invented by
them 6,000 years before it passed into Greece ; a vain boast, as
everyone will allow.' It must, however, be admitted that all the
1 Ilorocl. ii. 182. ^ Plin. vii. f)^.
3 Plin. xvxv. 3. He also mentions line ilrawitiirs ns an invention of the Ecvntians.
Chap. X.] PAINTING. 295
arts were cultivated in Egypt long before Greece existed as a
nation ; and the remark he afterwards makes,^ that painting was
unknown at the period of the Trojan war, can only be applied
to the Greeks, as is shown by the same unquestionable authority
at Beni-Hassan, of the remote era of Usertesen, who lived up-
wards of 1700 years before our era, between five and six hun-
dred years previous to the taking of Troy.
The skill of the Egyptian artists in drawing bold and clear
outlines, is, perhaps, more worthy of admiration than anything
connected with this branch of art , and I have had occasion to
notice the freedom with whicli the figures in the unfinished part
of Belzoni's tomb at Thebes are sketched. I have also noticed^
the manner in which they began those drawings previous to
their being sculptured and painted.
The walls having been ruled in red squares, ' the position of
the figures was decided by the artist, who traced them roughly
with a red color ; and the draughtsman then carefully sketched
the outlines in black, and submitted them to the inspection of
the former, who altered (as appears in some few instances here)
those parts which he deemed deficient in proportion or correct-
ness of attitude ; and in that state they were left for the chisel
of the sculptor.' Sometimes the squares were dispensed with,
and the subjects were drawn by the eye, which appears to have
been the case with many of those in the tomb here alluded to.
In some pictures we observe certain conventional rules of
drawing which are singular, and perhaps confined to the Egyp-
tians and Chinese, an instance of which may be seen in the
frontispiece to my 'Materia Hieroglyphica.' The subject repre-
sents Amen-ra, the god of Thebes, seated on his throne, and
presenting the emblem of life to Rameses the Great, who stands
before him. The deities Khonsu and Bubastis are also present.
The god being considered the principal figure, every means are
used to prevent the intervention of any object which might con-
ceal or break through its outline : the leg, therefore, of the king,
tliotigh in realit}^ coming in front, is placed behind his foot ; but
as the base of the throne is of less importance than the leg of the
kinof, the latter is continued in an unbroken line to the bottom
of the picture ; and the same is observed in his hand, which,
being an object of more consequence in the subject than the tail
of the deity, is not subjected to any interrtiptiou. The Egyptians
1 P!in. XXXV. 3, at the end. 2 > Egypt and Thebes,' p. 107-
296
THE AXciEXT e<;yptia\.s.
fClIAI'. X.
with the tablets or iukstauds beloiigiug to the scribes
No. 425. A scribe wriluig ou a tablet, c and d
are two eases for carrving writing materials.
Thebes.
rarely used i)erspective, either in figures or in the representation
of inanimate objects; and those on the same plane, instead of
being shown one behind the other, were placed in succession one
above the other, on the perpendicular wall.
Of the quality of the pencils they used for drawing and paint-
ing it is difficult to form any o[)iiii()ii. Those generally employed
for Avritinu' were a reed or rush,^ nuinv of which have been found
and with
these, too, they [irobal)!}'
sketched the figures in red
and black upon the stcjne
or stucco of the walls. To
put in the color, we may
suppose that brushes of
some kind Avere used: but
the minute scale on which
the subjects are indicated
in the sculptures prevents
our deciding the question.
Habits among men of similar occupations are frequently alike,
even in the most distant countries ; and we find it was not un-
usual for an Egyptian
artist or scribe to put
his reed pencil behind
his ear when engaged in
examining the effect of
his painting, or listening
to a person on business,
as in the modern studio
or the counting-house of
a European town.
Painters and scribes
deposited their writing
imj)lements in a box
with a pendent leather top, which w^as tied up with a loop or
thong: and a handle or strap w\as fastened to the side to enable
them to carry it more conveniently. Their ordimuy wooden
tablet was furnished with tw^o or more cavities for holding the
colors, a tube in the centre cnntaining the pens or reeds : :ind
certain memoranda were frequently written at the back of it
1 (Mllcd kas/t ; tlii-v wcro frayeil at one end, hut not pointed. Hrushcs of reeds auU
fibres were used ibr some of the "coarser painting of the walls. — S. B.
Ko. 426. Senlii- witli lii.- inUstaiid nn tin- t:ible One
pen is put behind his ear, and he is uritinL; with
another. Tlitlns.
CiiAP. X.1 ARCHITECTURE. — THE AltCH. 297
when a large piece of papyrus, or the wooden shil),^ was not
required.
Oi the arcliitecture, i)laiis, and distribution of their dwelling-
liouses I have already treated, and also of the great use they
made of crude brick for this purpose ; those burnt in a kiln being
rarely employed exce[)t in dam[) situations.^ The bricks were
formed in a simple mould, frequently bearing a government
stamp; and the number of persons employed in their manu-
facture is readily accounted for by the great demand for those
materials in the construction of dwelling-houses and ordinary
buildings, stone being conhned principally to the temples and
other monuments connected with religion; but this has been
already noticed, and I now merely introduce the subject of crude
brick in connection with the arch.
I have frequently liad occasion to mention the antiquity of
the arch,3 and have shown that it existed of brick in the reign of
Amenophis I., as early as the year 1540 before our era,'^ and of
stone in the time of the second Psammatichus, B.C. GOO.^ T have
suggested the probability of its having owed its invention to the
small quantity of wood in Egypt, and the consequent expense of
roofing Avith timber, and have ventured to conclude from tiie
paintings at Beni-Hassan that vaulted buildings were made in
Egypt as early as the reign of Usertesen, the contemporary of
Joseph, who lived between three and four thousand years ago.
The age of the crude brick pyramids of Memphis and the
Arsinoi nome is unknown. Herodotus tells us the first built of
those materials w^as erected by Asychis, whom he makes the pre-
decessor of Anysis, the contemporary of Sabaco, thus limiting its
date to the ninth century before our era; and consequently, as
I have observed, making it ])osteri()r to those of Thebes, wdiich
were erected about the period of the 18th Djniasty.
It is, however, far more probable that a long period inter-
vened between the reigns of Asychis and Anysis; and that the
former lived many ages before Bocchoris, which is confirmed by
another passage in Herodotus, placing him as the immediate
1 The Eixvptians wrote on various built of burnt brick. Crude bricks were
materials, — iiapyrus for letters, relifiious common in many Eastern countries, as at
and other \vrits; slices of stone were used Babylon and other places,
as ^slates for copies and memoranda; 3 The newly-discovered rudimentary
wood, either bare or else covered with a arch of the ao-c of the 5th Dynasty assigrns
layer of -;tncco, for copies of nets or resn- it to a *till earlier aire — S. B
lations to ham:- up to the wall. — S. B. •• ' E'iypt and Thebes,' pp. 81 and 126.
. - The southern extremity of the quay, 5 Iliid! )i. 337.
near the temple of Luxor, at Thebes, "is
298 I'HE ANX'IENT EGYPTIANS. [Chap. X.
siiccessor of Mycerinus, the son of Cheops ; and the ruinous uiul
crumbled ap^jea ranee of the brick pyramids of Dashoor fully
justifies the opinion that tney were erected very soon after the
stone ones, near which they stand, and to whicli the inscription
of Asychis forbade the spectator to compare them. The}^ have
had chambers, the lower parts of whose side walls are still visi-
ble ; and we may be permitted to conclude that they were
arched like those of .Thebes.
If, then, the brick pj'ramids of Memphis were erected by the
successor of the son of Cheops, and tlie chambers were, as I
suppose, vaulted, the invention of the arch will be carried back
nearly 700 years prior to the reign of Amenophis I., about 2020
years before our era. This is a conjecture on which I do not
wish to insist ; we may, for the j^resent, be satisfied with the fact
that this style of building was in common use 3370 years ago,
and rejoice that tlie name of Amenophis I. has been preserved on
the stucco coating the interior of a vaulted tomb at Thebes, to
announce it, and to silence the incredulity of a sceptic.^
The appearance and position of other tombs in the vicinity of
the Ptolemaic temple of Dayr el Medeeneh at Thebes had always
convinced me that their vaulted roofs were of the time of
Amenophis I. and his immediate successors ; but, however satis-
fied on this point m3"self, I could find no name to sanction my
opinion, or to justify me in its assertion, until accident threw in
my way the building in question,^ while prosecuting ni}^ re-
searches tliere in 1827 ; and another tomb has since been dis-
covered of similar construction, which presents the ovals of the
third Thotlnnes.
The pyramids of Gebel Birkel (Napata) and Dunkalah
(Meroe) are of uncertain date; but there is every reason to
believe them, as well as the small temples attached to their
front, of an age long anterior to the Ptolemies, or, as Hoskins
thinks, 'of a far more ancient date than Tirhakah;'^ and we
there find stone arches, both round and pointed, some of which
are l)uilt with a keystone,* on the same principle as our own.
At Memphis, too, near the modern village of Saqqdra, is a
1 FNonc of Uie false arches cut in hori- ^ Hoskins' 'Ethiopia,' p. l.'W?.
Eontal stones are as old as some of the true ■• The keystone is mentioned ijy Seneca
arches of crude hiick at Thehes at the atrc (Epist. 90).' ;Many round and pointed
of Amenoph. Canina agrees with me that arches of a late time have been ''uilt with-
tho use of brick led to tlie invention of the out it, and the principle of tlio arch does
arch. — G. W.l not depend upon it, hut on the adjustment
■- 'Materia Hiero<ilyphica,' p. 80. of all the stones.
Chap. X.] THE ARCH. 299
tomb, with two large vaulted chambers, whose roofs displa}- in
every part the name and sculptures of the second Psamniatichus.
They are cut in the limestone rock ; and in order to secure the
roof, which is of a friable nature, they are lined, if I may so
call it, with an arch, as our modern tunnels. The arch is of
stone, and presents a small and graceful segment of a circle,
having a span of 7 feet 10 inches, and a height of 2 feet 8^
inches.
Numerous crude brick arches, of different dates, exist in
Thebes,^ besides the small pyramids already alluded to, some
of which are of very beautiful construction. The most remark-
able are the doorways of the enclosures surrounding the tombs
in the Assase^f, which are composed of two or more concentric
semicircles of brick, as well constructed as any of the present
day.. They are of the time of Psamniatichus and other princes
of the 26th Dynasty, immediately before the invasion of Cam-
byses. All the bricks radiate to a common centre ; they are
occasionally pared off at the lower part, to allow for the curve
of the arch, and sometimes the builders were contented to put
in a piece of stone to fill up the increased space between the
upper edges of the bricks. In those roofs of houses or tombs
which were made with less care, and required less solidity, the
bricks were placed longitudinally, in the direction of the curve
of the vault, and the lower ends were then cut away considera-
bly to allow for the greater opening between them ; and many
were grooved at the sides, in order to retain a greater quantity
of mortar between their united surfaces.
Though the oldest stone arch whose age has been positively
ascertained dates only in the time of Psamniatichus, we cannot
suppose that the use of stone was not adopted by the Egyptians
for that style of building previous to his reign, even if the arches
of the pyramids in Ethiopia should prove not to be anterior to
the same era. Nor does the absence of the arch in temples and
other large buildings excite our surprise when we consider the
style of Egyptian monuments ; and no one who understands the
character of their architecture could wish for its introduction.^
1 One is introduced into woodcut No. and prejudice forbade it even in the small
427, fig- 1. out-of-tiie-way temples of tlie Oases — ex-
~2 [Even in Roman times, when con- cept in a position where it did not interfere
quered Egypt had completely fallen, and with the character of the buiklin<jr. See
her taste, too, had passed away, the uni- my 'Architecture of Ancient Egypt.' —
versal preference for the arcli was not G. W.]
allowed to intrude into her sacred edifices ;
300
THE A>'C1£NT KGYPTIANS.
[CllAl". X.
In some of the small temples of the Oasis the Romans attempted
this innovation ; but the appearance of the chambers so con-
structed fails to please, and the whimsical caprice of Osirei, or
Seti 1., who introduced an imitation of the arch in a temple at
Abydus, was not followed by any of his successors. In this
building the roof is formed of single blocks of stone reaching
from one architrave to the other, which, instead of being placed
in the usual manner, stand upon their edges, in order to allow
Ko. 427. Fig. 1. Vavilted rooms and doorway of a crude brick pyramid at Thebes.
2. All iiiiitatioii of an arcli at Thebes.
3. Another at Abydus.
4. Mode of commeuciuga quarry.
room for hollowinof out an arch in their thickness ; but it has an
effect of inconsistency, without the plea of advantage or utility.
Another imitation of the arch occurs in a building at Thebes.
Here, however, a reason may perhaps be given for its introduc-
tion, being in the style of a tomb, and not constructed as an
Egyptian temple, nor bound to accord with the ordinary rules of
architecture. The chambers, like those of the tomb of Saqqdra,
lie under a friable rock, and are cased with masonr3% to prevent
the fall of its crumbling stone ; but, instead of being roofed on
the principle of the arch, they are covered with a number of
Chap. X.] STONE USED IN BUILDING. 301
large blocks placed horizontally, one projecting beyond that
immediately below it, till the uppermost two meet in the centre,
the interior angles being afterwards rounded off to form the
appearance of a vault.
The date of this building is about 1500 B.C., consequently
many years after the Egyptians had been acquainted with the
art of vaulting ; and the reason of their preferring such a mode
of construction probably arose from their calculating the great
difficulty of repairing an injured arch in this position, and the
consequences attending the decay of a single block ; nor can any
one suppose, from the great superincumbent weight applied to
the haunches, that this style of building is devoid of strength,
and of the usual durability of an Egyptian fabric, or pronounce
it ill suited to the purpose for which it was erected.
The most ancient buildings in Egypt were constructed of
limestone, hewn from the mountains bordering the valley of the
Nile to the east and west, extensive quarries of which may be
seen at El Maasara,^ Nesleh Shekh Hassan, El Maabdeh, and
other places ; and evidence of its being used long before sand-
stone is derived from the tombs near the Pyramids, as well as
those monuments themselves, and from the vestiges of old sub-
structions at Thebes.^ Limestone continued to be occasionally
employed for building even after the succession of the 16th
Dynasty ; ^ but so soon as the durability of sandstone was
ascertained, the quarries of Silsilis* were opened, and those
materials were universally adopted, and preferred for their even
texture and the ease with which they are wrought. The extent
of the quarries at Silsilis is very great ; and, as I have elsewhere
observed, '• it is not by the size and scale of the monuments of
Upper Egypt alone that we are enabled to judge of the stu-
pendous works executed by the ancient Egyptians : these would
suffice to prove the character they bore, were the gigantic ruins
of Thebes and other cities ^ no longer in existence. And safel}'
may we apply the expression, used by Pliny in speaking of the
porphyry quarries, to those of Silsilis, " they are of such extent,
that masses of any dimensions might be hewn from them." '
1 'Esrypt and Thebes,' pp. 322 and 348, the stone of the quarries near Memphis,
the • Troici lapidis mens ' of Ptolemy and proljably of the Maasara hills, for part of
Strabo. the temple of Minerva at Sais (lib. ii. 175).
^ Limestone blocks are sometimes ioiind (' Egypt and Thel)es,' p. 442.)
in the thickness of the walls of sandstone ■* 'Etrypt and Thebes,' p. 439.
temples, of the time of Ramescs II. and ^ Herodotus (li. 177) and Pliny (v. 9)
other kings, taken from older monuments. reckon 20,000 cities in Egypt in the time
3 Herodotus says, Amasis even used of Amasis.
302 THE AXCIEXT EGYPTIANS. [Cuap. X.
In opening a new quarry, when the stone could not be taken
fvoni the surface of the rock, and it was necessary to cut into
the lower part of its perpendicular face, they pierced it with a
horizontal shaft ; heginning with a square trench, and then
breaking away the stone left in the centre as indicated in wood-
cut No, 427 by the space b, its height and breadth depending
of course on the size of the stones required. Tliey then cut the
same around c, and so on to any extent in a horizontal direction ;
after which they extended the work downwards, in steps, taking
away e and leaving d for the present, and thus descending as far
as they found convenient, ov the stone continued good. They
then returned, and cut away the steps D, f, and all the others,
reducing each time one ste[) in depth, till at last there remained
at X a perpendicular Avail ; and when the quarries were of very
great horizontal extent, piHars were left at intervals to siqjport
the roof.
In one of the quarries at El Maasara, the mode of transporting
the stone is represented. It is placed on a sledge, drawn by
iVT»>VjF
No. 428. Removing a stone from the quarries at El ^laasara.
oxen, and is supposed to be on its way to the inclined plane that
led to the river ; vestiges of which may still be seen a little to
the south of the modern village.
Sometimes, and particularly when the blocks were large and
ponderous, men were em})loyed to drag them, and those con-
demned to hard labor in the quarries as a punishment appear
to have been required to assist in moving a certain number of
stones,^ according to the extent of their offence, ere they were
liberated ; and tliis expression, ' 1 liave dragged 110 stones for
the building of Isis at Phihe,' in an inscri})ti()n at the quarries of
Gertassy in Nubia, seems to confirm my conjectui-e In order to
keep an account of their progress, they frequently cut the initials
1 Mention of blocks of stone drawn ilin-injr the vei-rn of Ranieses II. They
from the quarries is made in sonic of the have been supposed to be the Iloln-cws,
papyri, especially of the Apenii, a Ibreijrn but this has been disputed. (Chabas,
race, who chajrf^aHl them for the construe- ' Kceherchcs sur la XIX« Dyuastie,' p.
tion of some of the edifices in the Delta, 153.) — S. B-
Chap. X.] TRANSPORT OF LARGE STONES. 303
of their name, or some private mark, with the number, on the
rock wlience the stone was taken, as soon as it was removed: thus,
c.xxxir., PD. xxxiii., PD. xxxiiir., and numerous other signs
occur at the quarries of Fateereh.
Tlie bh:)cks were taken from the quarry on sledges ; and in a
grotto behind E'Dayr, a Christian village between Antinoe and
El Bersheh, is the representation of a colossus,^ which a number
of men are employed in dragging with ropes ; a subject doul)ly
interesting, from being of the early age of Usertesen II., and
one of the very few paintings which throw any light on the
method employed by the Egyptians for moving weights : for it
is singular that we find no illustration of the mechanical means
of a people who have left so many unquestionable proofs of
skill in these matters.
It is not to be supposed that the colossus was hewn in the
hill of El Bersheh. This picture, like the trades, fowling
scenes, and other subjects represented in similar grottoes, only
refers to one of the occupations of the Egyptians : ^ nor does it
€ven follow that the inmate of the tomb had any office connected
Avith the superintendence of the quarries whence it was brought.
One hundred and seventy -two men,^ in four rows, of forty-
three each, pull the ropes attached to the front of the sledge ;
and a li(juid, probably grease, is poured from a vase by a person
standing on the pedestal of the statue, in order to facilitate its
progress as it slides over the ground ; which was probably
■covered with a bed of planks, though they are not indicated in
the painting.
Some of the persons employed in this laborious duty appear
to be Eg3^ptians ; the others are foreign slaves, who are clad in
the costume of their country ; and behind are four rows of
men, who, though only twelve in number, may be intended to
represent the set which relieved the others when fatigued.
Below are persons carrying vases of the liquid, or perhaps
water, for the use of the workmen, and some implements con-
nected with the transport of the statue, followed by taskmasters
with their wands of office. On the knee of the figure stands a
man who claps his hands to the measured cadence of a song, to
mark the time and insure their simultaneous draught ; for it is
' This curious subject was first dis- 2 < Egypt and Thebes,' p. 142.
coverctl bv Captains Irby and Mangles. 3 The number may be indefinite ; and it
From the beard we see the statue is of a is probable that more were really employed
private individual. than are indicated in the painting.
304 THE ANCIENT EGYPTIANS. [Chap. X.
evident that, in order that the whole power might be applied at
the same instant, a sign of this kind was necessary ; and the
custom of singing at their work^ was commini to every occupa-
tion ^ among tiie Egyptians, as it now is in that country, in India,
and many otlier places. Nor is it found a disadvantage among
the modern sailors of Europe, when engaged in pulling a rope,
or in any lalxu' wliich requires a simultaneous effort.
The height of the statue ap2)ears to have been about twenty-
four feet, including the j-edestal, and it was of limestone.'^ as tlie
color and the hierogly})hics inform us. Jt was bound to the
sledge by double ropes, which were tightened by means of long
pegs inserted between them, and twisted round until completely
braced ; and to prevent injury from the friction of the ropes
upon the stone, a compress of leather or other substance was
introduced at the parts where they touched the statue.
It is singular that the position of the ring to which all the
ropes were attached for moving the mass was confined to one
place at the front of the statue, and did not extend to the back
part of the sledge ; but this Avas owing to the shortness of the
body, and when of great length it is probable that ropes were
fixed at intervals along the sides, in order to give an opportunity
of appjying a greater moving power. For this purpose, in
blocks of very great length, as the columns at Fateereh, which
are about 60 ft. long and 8^ ft. in diameter, certain pieces of
stone were left projecting from the sides, like the trunnions of
a gun, to which several ropes were attached, each pulled by its
own set of men,
Small blocks of stone were sent from the quarries by water
to their different places of destination, either in boats or rafts;
but those of very large dimensions were dragged by men over-
land in the manner here represented ; and the immense weight
of some shows that the Egyi>tians were well acquainted with
mechanical powers, and the mode of applying a locomotive
force witli the most wonderful success.
The obelisks transjiorted from the quarries of Syene, at the
First Cataracts, in latitude 24° 6' 23", to Thebes and Heliopolis,
vary in size from seventy to ninety-three feet in length. They
1 The custom of sinfring: or shoiitinff coniinon to otlicr people as well as to the
while treadinj; ^Tupes in the wine-press, is Ej^yplians.
mentioned hy -Jeremiah (\xv. 30) ■ 'lie - Also tlurinjr the dance: 1 Sam. xxi.
shall s'ive a shout as they that treail the 11.
grapes;' and Isaiah (xvi. 10): 'In the 3 The word in the hiero^rlyphics sigui-
vineyard tliere shall benosinjjcing; ' hciny fics either limestone or sandstone.
CuAP. X.] TRANSPORT OF A COLOSSAL STATUE.
30o
are of one single stone ; and the largest in Egy
of the great temple at Karnak, I calculate
pt, which is that
to weio'h about
20
306 THE ANCIENT EGYPTIANS. ' IChap. X.
297 tons. This was brought about 138 miles from the quarry to
where it now stands, and those taken to Heliopolis passed over a
space of more than 800 miles. The power, however, to move the
mass was the same, whatever might be the distance ; and the
mechanical skill which transported it five, or even one, would
suffice for any number of miles.
In examining the ruins of Western Thebes, and reading the
statements of ancient writers regarding the stupendous masses of
granite conveyed by this people for several hundred miles, our
surprise is greatly increased. We find in the plain of Qoorneh
two colossi of Amenophis III., of a single block each,^ forty-seven
feet in height, which contain about 11,500 cubic feet, and are
made of a stone not known within several days' journey of the
place ; and at the Memnonium is another of Rameses II., which,
when entire, weighed upwards of 887 tons,^ and was brought
from E'Sooan to Thebes, a distance, as before stated, of 138 miles.
This is certainly a surprising weight, and we cannot readily
suggest the means adopted for its transport, or its passage of
the river ; but the monolithic temple said by Herodotus to have
been taken from Elephantine to Buto, in the Delta, was still
larger, and far surpassed in weight the pedestal of Peter the
Great's statue at St. Petersburg, which is calculated at about
1200 tons. He also mentions a monolith at Sais, of which he
gives the following account: 'What I admire still more is a
monument of a single block of stone, which Amasis transported
from the city of Elephantine.^ Two thousand men, of the class
of boatmen, were employed to bring it, and were occupied three
years in this arduous task. The exterior length is twenty-one
cubits(31i feet), the breadth fourteen (22 feet), and the height
eight (12 feet) ; and within it measured eighteen cubits twenty
digits (28 feet 3 inches) in length, twelve (18 feet) in breadth,
and five (7^ feet) in height. It lies near the entrance of the
temple, not having been admitted into the building, in con-
sequence, as they say, of the engineer, while superintending the
operation of dragging it forward, having sighed aloud, as if
exhausted with fatigue, and im})atient of the time it had occu-
pied; which being looked upon by Amasis as a bad omen, he
1 One of these is the vocal Memnon. <rranite rocks stretch from the interior of
(' E<rypt and Thebes,' p. 33, et seq.) This the desert to tlie Nile in this part : the
wasliroken and repaired. sandstone crosses the river more to tlie
- ' EfTvpt and Tliehcs,' p. 11. nortli, a little below Eilcithyia. (' Egypt
« The' island opposite' Syene, imme- and Thebes,' pp. 420 and 452".)
diatelv below the First Cataract. The
Chap. X.1 THE MOVING OF GREAT WEIGHTS. 307
forbade its being taken any further. Some, however, state that
tiiis was in consequence of a man having been crushed beneath
it while moving it with levers.' ^
Herodotus' measurement is given as it lay op the ground ;
his length is properl}^ its height, and his height the depth from
the front to the back ; for, judging from the usual form of these
monolithic monuments, it was doubtless like that of the same
king at Tel-et-Mai, given in Burton's Excerpta,^ the dimensions of
which are 21 feet 9 inches high, 13 feet broad, and 11 feet 7 inches
deep ; and internally 19 feet 3 inches, 8 feet, and 8 feet 3 inches.
The weight of the Sa'ite monolith cannot certainly be com-
pared to that of the colossus of Rameses ; but when we calculate
the solid contents of the temple of Latona at Buto, our astonish-
ment is unbounded ; and we are perplexed to account for the
means employed to move a mass which, supposing the walls to
have been only 6 feet thick — for Herodotus^ merely gives the
external measurement of forty cubits, or 60 feet in height, breadth,
and thickness — must have weighed upwards of 5000 tons.*
The skill of the Egyptians was not confined to the mere
moving of immense weights : their wonderful knowledge of
mechanism is shown in the erection of obelisks, and in tlie
position of large stones, raised to a considerable height, and ad-
justed with tlie utmost precision ; sometimes, too, in situations
where the space will not admit the introduction of the inclined
plane. Some of the most remarkable are the lintels and roofing
stones of the large temples ; and the lofty doorway leading into
the grand hall of assembly at Karnak is covered with sandstone
blocks 40 feet 10 inches long, and 5 feet 2 inches square.
In one of the quarries at E'Sooan, or Syene, is a granite
obelisk, which, having been broken in the centre after it was
finished, was left in tlie exact spot where it had been separated
from the rock. The depth of the quarry is so small, and the
entrance to it so narrow, that it was impossible for them to turn
tlie stone, in order to remove it by that opening ; it is, therefore,
evident that they must have lifted it out of the hollow in which
it had been cut, as was the case with all the other shafts pre-
viously hewn in the same quarry. Such instances as these suffice
to prove the wonderful mechanical knowledge of the Egyptians :
and we may question whether, with the ingenuity and science of
1 Herodot. ii. 175. 2 pjatc xli. 3 Herodot. ii. 155.
4 This is supposing it to be granite, as these monolithic temples were.
308 THE ANX'IENT EGYPTIANS. ICiiap. X.
the present day, our engineers are cai)aljle of raising weights
M'ith the same facility as that ancient people.^
Pliny mentions several obelisks of very hirge dimensions,
some of which were removed to Rome, whei'e they now stand as
tokens of the em})ty vanity of man.
The Egyptians naturally looked on those monuments with
feelings of veneration, being connected with their religion and
the glorious memory of their monarchs ; and at the same time
perceived that, in buildings constructed as tlieir temples were,
the monotony of numerous horizontal lines rec^uired a relief of
this kind: but the same feelings did not influence others, and
few motives can be assigned for their removal to Europe, beyond
the desire of possessing what required great difticulty to obtain,
and flattered the pride of a vain people.^
I will not pretend to say that the ancient Romans committed
the same strange outrage to taste as their modern successors, wdio
have destroyed the effect of the most graceful part of these
monuments by crowning the apex, which should of course termi-
nate in a point, with stars, rays, or other whimsical additions ;
and, however habit may have reconciled the eye to such a
monstrosity, every one who understands the beauty of form and
the harmony of lines must observe and regret the incongruity of
balls and weathercocks on our own spires.
Pliny ^ says, that the first Egyptian king who erected an
obelisk was Mesphres, who held his court at Heliopolis,'*the city
of the Sun, the deity to whom they were said to have been dedi-
cated.^ Man}' others were raised by different monarchs, and
' Rameses ' made one 99 feet in height, * on which he employed
20,000 workmen.' 'And, fearing lest the engineer should not
take sufficient care to proportion the power of the machinery to
1 M. T.ebas, well known in France as ' Monuments divers,' pi. 19a.) The oldest
an eminent enfrincer, wlio removed the obelisk before a temple is that of Uscrtcsen
obelisk of [.uxor now at Paris, has paid a I., at Heliopolis. Larije obelisks were
iust tribute to the skill of the EL'vptians. made at the time of the 18th and lOtii
•■; Thev took some time to erect; that of Dynasties, but declined afterwards, al-
thc Lateran remained tliirtv-five years and though later obelisks of basalt of Mualler
upwards in its place in tlic han"iN of the size have been found dedicated l>y mon-
workmen at Southern Thebes, accordinir archs of the 2(ith and later dyna>ties and
to the inscription. (' Records of the Past,' Ptolemies, and their use continued under
iv. p. 1.").) — S. B. the Roman Empire. (Birch, ' Notes uison
^ Plin. xxxvi. 8. Obelisks,' Classical Museum, IS-ll, p. 201;
■* Obelisks came into use for sepulchral Pierret, 'Diet. d'Arche'ol, E;^ypt.' p. 379.)
purposes as earlvas the4th and .ith Dynas- — S. B.
ties, and were small, and made of cal- 5 At Heliopolis; but in other places to
careous stone, and placed before the doors other deities, as at Thebes to Amen, the
of sepulchres; larj;crones have been found god of that city.
of the time of the 12th Dvuasty. (Marictte,
Chap. X. 1 METHOD OF MOVING GREAT WEIGHTS. 309
the weight he had to raise, he ordered his own son to be bound
to the apex, more effectually to guarantee the safety of the
monument.' ^
The same writer describes a method of transporting obelisks
from the quarries dowji the river, by lashing two flat-bottomed
boats together, side by side, which were admitted into a trench
cut from the Nile to the place where the stone lay, laden with a
quantity of ballast exactly equal to the weight of the obelisk ;
which, so soon as they had been introduced beneath the trans-
verse block, was all taken out ; and the boats rising as they were
lightened, bore away the obelisk in lieu of their previous burden.
But we are uncertain if this method was adopted by the Egyp-
tians; and though he mentions it as the invention of one
Phoenix, he fails to inform us at what period he lived.
No insight, as I have already observed, is given into the
secrets of their meclianical knowledge from the sculptures, or
paintings of the tombs, though so many subjects are there intro-
duced. Our information connected with this point is confined
to the use of levers, and a sort of crane ; which last is mentioned
by Herodotus in describing the mode of raising the stones from
one tier to another when they built the Pyramids. He said it
was made of short pieces of wood,^ — an indefinite expression,
conveying no notion either of its form or principle, - — and every
stone was raised to the succeeding tier by a different machine.
Diodorus tells us,^ that machines were not invented at that
early })eriod, and that the stone was raised by mounds or inclined
planes ; but we may be excused for doubting his assertion, and
thus be relieved from the effort of imagining an inclined plane
five hundred feet in perpendicular height, with a proportionate
base.
It is true that the occupations of the mason and the statuary
are sometimes alluded to in the paintings ; the former, however,
are almost confined to the levelling or squaring of a stone, and the
use of the chisel. Some are represented polishing and painting
statues of men, si)hinxes, and small figures ; and two instances
occur of large granite colossi, surrounded with scaffolding,* on
which men are engaged in chiselling and polishing the stone ;
the painter following the sculptor to color the hieroglvphics
he has engraved at the back of the statue.
The usual mode of cutting large blocks from the quarries was
1 Plin. xx-xvi. 9. 2 Herod, ii. 125. 3 Diodor. ». 63. 4 Woodcut No. 43L
310
THE ANCIENT EGYPTIANS.
[Chap. X
l)y a number of metal wedges, which were struck at the same
instant along its whole length : sometimes, however, they seem to
\vd\r been of highly dried wood, which being driven into holes
previously cut for them by a chisel, and then saturated with
water, split the stone by their expansion ; and the troughs fre-
quently found along the whole line of the holes where the wedges,
were inserted argue strongly in favor of this opinion.
Pan 1.
Ko. 430.
4 5
Part 1, levelling, and Part 2, squaring a stone.
Fifjs. 2, 4, and 6 are using the chisel and mallet.
Thebes.
Such a method could only be adoj^ted wlien the wedges were
in an horizontal position, upon the ni)per surface of the stone ;
but those put into the sides were impelled by the hammer only.
To separate the lower })art of a ponderous mass from the rock
we may suppose they cut under it, leaving long pieces here and
there to support it, like l)eams, which traversed its whole depth
from the front to the back ; and then, having introduced wooden
rafters into the open spaces which were cleared away, they re-
Chap. X.
STONE QUARRYING.
311
moved the remainder of the stone, and the block rested on the
wood.
2
No. 431. Part 1. Large sitting colossus of granite, which they are polishing. Thebes,
Part 2. Standing figure of a king, and, like the former, painted to represent granite.
Figs. 8, 9, and 10 are polishing it : and fif/s. 6 and 7, painting and sculpturing the hiero-
glyphics at the back.
Some have imagined that they used the same means as now
practised in India, of lighting a fire along the whole length of the
mass, in the direction where they intended it should split ; and
then pouring water upon it, cracked the stone in that part by its
sudden action : but this is very doubtful, and the presence of the
812
THE ANCIENT EGYPTIANS.
1C1IA1>. X.
holes for the wedges surticifiitly [u-oves the method they usually
employed.
Among the renuirkahh' iiiviMilioiis of a remote era among the
Egyptians ma}' be mentit)ned bellows ' and syphons. The lV)rmer
were used at least as early as the reign of Tliothnies III., the
eoutemi)orar3' of Moses, being re[)resented in a tomb bearing
the name of that Pharaoh. The}' consisted of a leather bag,
secured and fitted into a frame, from which a long jnpe extended,
for carrying the wind to the tire. They were worked by the
feet, the operator standing upon them with one uiulei- each foot,
k A I "I n 5 0
No. 432. Bellows. Thebes.
a, b,f. g, the leather ease, c, e, I, n, the pipes conveying the wind ti> the tire. </, hi, the tire.
It, q, chareoal. k and o are r.aised as if full of air.
and pressing them alternately, wliile he })ulled up each exhausted
skin with a string he held in his hand. In one instance we
observe from the painting, that when the man left the bellows,
they were raised as if full of air ; ^ and this would imply a
knowledge of the valve.
It is uncertain when bellows were first invented : the earliest
contrivance of this kind was ])robably a mere reed or [)ipe, which
we lind used by goldsmitlis in the age of I'sertesen,^ and also at
• [Isaiah (liv. 16) says, ' The smith
that nloweth the coals (chareoal) in tlie
fire.' — G. W.]
- Woodcut No. 432, h, o.
s It does not follow, from the use of the
pipe at Beni-Hassan, that bellows were
unknown at that perio*!, because it con-
tinued to be u<ed lonL' after the time of
'riiothnies. Woodcut No. 413.
Chap. X.] BELLOWS. — THE SIPHON. 313
a late period, after the invention of bellows ; and the tubes of
these last appear even in the time of Thothnies III. to have
been simply of reed, tipped with a metal point, to resist the
action of the fire.
In 2)rocess of time the .sack containing the air was added, and
various improvements succeeded each other in the form and
principle of the bellows ; thei'e are, however, no means of as-
certaining the period when they assumed their present form,
and the merit of the late invention of wooden bellows is still
disputed. Strabo ascribes the bellows ^ to Anacharsis, Ijut with
the evident conviction that these, the double anchor, and the
potter's wheel, ^ were of an age far anterior to the Scythian
philosopher ; which is fully proved by the paintings at Thebes.
The ordinary hanrl-bellows, now used for small fires in Egypt,
are a sort of bag made of the skin of a kid, witli an opening at
one end (like the mouth of a common carpet-bag), where the
skin is sewed upon two pieces of wood ; and these being pulled
apart by the hands, and closed again, the bag is pressed down,
and the air thus forced through the pipe at the other end. It
is, perhaps, an ancient invention, but I find no indication of it
in the paintings. The bellows with sides of wood, made at the
present day, are a more perfect construction than these last, or
the foot-bellows of the time of Thothmes. They are supposed
to have been known to the Greeks, though, I confess, the
expression o'f Virgil ^ is rather calculated to convey the idea of
bellows made of ox leather,* without wooden sides. The
syringe was an early invention in Egypt, and used by the
embalmers for injecting liquids into the head and other cavities
of the body, as well as for other purposes.
Siphons are shown to have been invented in Egypt, at least
as early as the reign of Amenophis II., 1450 years before our
era ; and they again occur in the paintings of the third Rameses.
In a tomb at Thebes bearing the name of Amenophis their use
is unequivocally pointed out by one man pouring a liquid into
some vases, and the other drawing it off, by applying the siphon
to his mouth, and thence to a large vase ; and it is not improb-
able that they owed their invention to the necessity of allowing
1 Strabo, vii. p. 209. 4 Beckmann savs ' that hulls' leather,'
2 Seneca, Ep. 90. Plin. vii. 56. which Virpril mentions, ' is unfit for bellows,
3 Virg. Georir. iv. 171. Herodot. i. 68. and that o\- or cow leather can only be
Sculptures at Philae, &c. used for that purpose.'
3U
THE ANCIENT EGYPTIANb.
[Chap. X.
the Nile water to deposit its thick sediment in vases, wliich couhl
not be moved without again rendering it turbid, whether by
incHning the vessel, or dij)ping a cup into it with the hand.
Julius Pollux says they were used for tasting wine ; ^ and
Heron of Alexandria, the first writer of consequence who mentions
them, and wlio lived under Ptolemy Euergetes II., shows them to
liave been employed as hydraulic macliines, on a grand scale, for
draining lands, or conveying water over a hill from one valley to
Ko. 433. Siphons used in the year 1450 B.C. T/iebes.
Fif/. 1 pours a liquid into vases from the cup, b; a,nd Jig. 2 draws it olf by the siphnii.s, a.
another. Their name, siphon, is evidently Oriental, and derived
from the word siph, or ts(f, ' to imbibe,' or ' draw up with the breath,'
analogous to, and the origin of. our own expression 'to sip.'
Of the numerous inventions to which the Egyptians may lay
claim, we learn little from the worlcs of ancient authors ; but
their skill in various branches of art is highly extolled by
those ^ who visited, or were acquainted with, the country.
Herodotus^ ascribes the origin of geometry to the necessity of
ascertaining every successive year the (luantity of land, increased
or diminished by accidents arising IVoiii the inundation of the
Nile; wliich is, indeed, not inconsistent with reason; but the
historian is wrong in limiting the date of land-surveying to the
age of Sesostris, since it was evidently known long before his
1 Jul. Poll. Onom. vi. 2, and x. 20.
~ Diodorus (i. 74) says tliat the arts
were cari'ied to a hi<:licr (leyrcc f)i' perlcc-
tiou and evoellcnce anioiiLT the Ejryptians
than any other people; which lie asfrii)es
to the artisans hein^' confined to their own
occui)ations. The Chinese have shown
that, like many other iileas, this is plausi-
ble ill theory, r>nt bad in practice,
a Herodot. ii. 102.
Chap. X.] SCIENCE. 315
time ; and so ancient did the Egyptians ^ consider it, that tliey
ascribed its invention to Thoth.'-^
That the Greeks shoukl have been indebted to Egypt for
their early lessons in science is not surprising, since it is known
that in those days Egypt took the lead in all philosophical pur-
suits. Thales, the first Greek who arrived at any proficiency in
geometry, went to study there; and his example was afterwards
followed by others, who sought the best school of science and
philosophy. Pliny's story of Thales teaching his instructors to
measure the height of a pyramid by its shadow is sufficiently
improbable ; but that it should be repeated and believed at the
present day is surprising, and some appear to think the Egyptians
were incapable of making canals until taught by the Greeks.
Equally inconsistent is the story of Pythagoras' theory of mu-
sical sound; not only because he had visited countries where
music had long been a profound study, but because the anvil
(like a bell) gives the saine sound when struck by different
hammers, at least when struck on the same part.
If Plato ascribes the invention of geometry to Thoth; if lam-
blichus says it was known in Egypt during the reign of the gods ;
and if Manetho attributes a knowledge of science and literature to
the earliest kings, — these facts merely argue that such pursuits
were reputed to be of very remote date there. The monuments,
however, prove the truth of the reports of ancient authors re-
specting the early knowledge of geometry, astronomy, and other
sciences among the Egyptians. Mensuration and surveying were
the first steps that led to geography ; and the Egyptians were
not satisfied with the bare enumeration of conquered provinces
and towns.; for, if we may believe Eustathius, 'they recorded
their march in maps, which were not only given to their own
people, but to the Scythians also, to their great astonishment.'
The practical results of their knowledge had sufficiently
proved the great advancement made by them, ages before the
Greeks were in a condition to study or search after science. It
was in Egypt that the Israelites obtained that knowledge which
enabled them to measure and 'divide the land;' and it was the
known progress made by the Egyptians in the various branches
1 A ;,'eoraetnc and arithmetic papyrus, a much earlier document. ('Zeitschr. f.
now in the British Museum, has a portion agypt. Spr.' 1868, p. 108.) — S. B.
<levoted to tiie triani;ulation and mensiira- '^ Plato in Pha>do.
■tion of fields. It professes to be a copy of
316
THE ANCIENT EGYPTIANS.
[CUAP. X.
of philosophical research that induced the Greeks to study in.
Es^vjit. Those, too, who followed Thales only varied the theories
he had pr(>})(iunded; and the subsequent visits of others, as
Pythagoras, Eudoxus, and Plato, introduced fresh views, and
advanced the study of philosophy and positive science on the
same grounds, but with greater knowledge, as they went deeper
into the views of their teachers. It was doubtless from Egypt
that 'Thales and his followers" derived the fact of 'the moon
receiving its light from the sun.* ^
No one will for a moment imagine that the wisest of the
Greeks went to study in Egypt for any other reason than because
it was there that the greatest discoveries were to be learnt; or
that Pythagoras, or his followers,^ suggested, from no previous ex-
perience, the theory (we now call Copernican) of the sun being
the centre of our. system;^ or the obliquity of the ecliptic, or
the moon's borrowed light, or the proof of the milky way being a
collection of stars,'^ derived from the fact that the earth would
otherwise intercept the light if derived from the sun, taught by
Democritus and by Anaxagoras, according to Aristotle,^ the
former of whom studied astronomy for five years in Egypt,*^ and
mentions himself as a disciple of the priests of Egypt, and of
the Magi, having also been in Persia and at Babylon."
lamblichus says Pythagoras derived his information upon dif-
1 Pint de Placit. Philos. ii. 28; Cic. de
X;it Dcor, i. ; and Diog. Laert. 8 ; which
Anacreon has introduced into a drinking
ode (19). The same was the belief of
Aristarclius at a later time (Vitruv. i\. 4);
and Macrobius (on Cicero's Somn. Scip. i.
p. 4:4) says, ' liinam, quiP luce propria
caret, et de sole niiituatur.'
2 Pint, de Placit. Philos. iii. 11.
"5 Aristot. de Coelo, li 13.
■» Pint, de Placit. Philos. iii. 1.
5 Arist. Met. i. 8.
6 Diodor. i. 98.
" Clem. Str. i. p. 304. The same may
be said of the principle by which the
heavenly bodies were attracted to a centre,
and impelled in their order,(Arist. de Ccel.
ii. 13), the theory of eclipses and the
proofs of the earth being round (ibid. ii.
14). These and many other notions were
doubtless borrowed from Egypt, to which
the (irecks cbiotly resorted, or from the
current opinions of the 'Egyptians and
Habylonians,' the asti'onomers of those
days; from whose early discoveries so
much liad been derived concerning the
heavenly bodies (Arist. dc Cojl. ii. 12).
Cicero, on the authority of Theophrastus,
speaks of Hicetas of Syracuse, a Pytha-
gorean, having the same idea respecting
the earth revolving in a circle round its
own axis (.\cad. Quajst. ii. 39), which
Diogenes Laertius says another Pytha-
gorean, Philolaus. had propounded belore
him (Life of Philolaus) ; and Aristorle (de
Coelo, ii. 13) observes, that though the
greater part of philosophers say the earth
is the centre of the system, the Pytlia-
gorcans who live in Italy maintain that tire
is the centre, and the earth liciiig one of
the planets rotates about the centre and
makes day and night. And if Plato men-
tions the same, as Cicero says, 'rather
more obscurely' (Tim. 80, p." oSO), it is
]irobablv owing to bis having heard of it
while ill Egypt, without giving the same
attention to the subiect as his predecessor,
Pythagoras. This heliocentric system was
finally revived in Europe by Copernicus,
after bavimr been for ages lost to the
world; though Nicolas of Cus, long liefore
his time, and perhaps some others, were
BC(iuainted with it; and when Pern was
conquered by tiie .Spaniands it was found
that the sun had there long lieen con-
sidcn-il \hv cfAU-c of our system.
Chap. X.] SCIENCE. 317
ferent sciences from Egypt ; he learnt philosophy from the priests ;
and his theories of comets, numbers, and music were doubtless
from the same source : but the great repugnance evinced by the
Egyptian priests to receive Pythagoras will account for their
withholding from him much that they knew, though his great
patience, and his readiness to comply with their regulations, even
to the rite of circumcision,^ obtained for him more information
than was imparted to any other Greek.^ Clemens says,^ ' Py-
thagoras was the disciple of Sonches, the Egyptian arch-prophet
(Plutarch says of Onuphis, and Solon of Sonchis the Saite) ; Platci
of Sechnuphis of Heliopolis ; and Eudoxus the Cnidian of Conu-
phis ; ' and he repeats the story of Plato,'* of the Egyptian priest
saying, ' Solon, Solon, you Greeks are always children : ' which
shows what the general belief was among the Egyptians and
Greeks respecting the source of knowledge in early times. Strabo
indeed' affirms that 'the Greeks did not even know the (length
of the) year till Eudoxus and Plato went to Egypt,' ^ at the late
period of 370 b.c.^ The development given in after-times by
the Greek mind to what they learnt originally from Egypt, is
what showed their genius, and conferred an obligation on man-
kind ; and it is by keeping this in view, and by perceiving how
the Greeks applied what they learnt, that we shall do them
justice, not by erroneously attributing to them the discovery of
what was already old when they were in their infancy.
Herodotus, on this as on other occasions, is far above the
prejudices of his countrymen ; he claims no inventions bor-
rowed from other peoj)le ; and his reputation has not suffei'ed
from the injudicious accusation of Plutarch, 'of malevolence
towards the Greeks.'
'The YP(i,uu)p and the rroilo.,' says Herodotus, ' were received by
the Greeks from the Babylonians ; ' but they attributed the in-
vention of the gnomon to Anaximander, and that of various dials
to Eudoxus and others ; some again ascribing them to Berosus."
' Clem. Strom, i. p. 302. " Vitruv. ix. 9. That the dial was of
'■^ Pint, de Isid. s. 10. very early date is evident, since in the
3 Strom, i. p. 303. * Tim. p.466, tr. T. days of Hezekiah, between three and four
5 Strabo, xvii. p. 554. ' luindred years before Eudoxus, and about
" See also Diodor. i. 28 and 81, and one hundred years before Anaximander, it
what is cited by Eusebius, Praep. Evanp. wasknownti the Jews, as is shown in Isaiah
X. p. 480, respectinjf the visits of several xxviii. 8 and 2 King's xx. IG, where the
Greeks; also Clem. Strom, i. 300, and shadow is said to have been brou<j:ht 'ten
Diog. Laert. 'Life of Thales,' 15; and deffrees (mdluik) backward, bv which
Cicero, Somn. Scip., who says, 'Plato it had gone down on the dial (maluth) of
.^gyptios omnium philosophic discipli- Ahaz.' The Hebrew word ' step,' ' degree,'
nanim parentes secutus est.'
318 THE ANCIENT EGYPTIANS. [( iiap. X.
At all events the use of the dial was known in Judiea as early
as seven centuries before our era, and it is not mentioned as a
novelty. All that Anaximander could have done was to intro-
duce it into Greece, and adoption should frequently be substi-
tuted for invention in the claims set up by the Greeks. Indeed,
they often claimed inventions centuries after they had been
known to other people ; and we are not surprised at the state-
ment of Plato, that '• when Solon inquired of the priests of
Egypt about ancient matters, he perceived that neither he nor
any one of the Greeks (as he himself declared) had any knowl-
edge of very remote antiquity.'^ And when Thales is shown
by Laertius to have been the first who was acquainted with
geometry, some notion may be had of the very modern date of
science in Greece, since he was a contemporary of Crcesus,^
and lived at a time when Egypt had already declined from its
greatness, and more than seven centuries after astronomical
calculations had been recorded on the monuments of Thebes.^
Vitruvius attributes the invention of the semi-circular (con-
cave) dial, or hemicyclium^ to Berosus, the Chaldean historian,
who was born in the reign of Alexander, which is reducing the
date of it to a very recent period.'*
^ Eudoxus,' according to Vitruvius, 'invented the arachne
(spider's web), or, as some say, Apollonius : and Aristarchus of
Samos the seaphe or hemisphere, as well as the disk on a plane ; "
which (if he means a dial on a plane surface) was a still further
improvement,and required greater knowledge for its construction.
The most perfect hydraulic clock w'as invented by Ctesibius, at
Alexandria, in the time of Ptolemy Euergetes II. ; but the more
simple clepsydra was known long before, being mentioned by
n'-ry':, nuilh or malek, is the same as the »« 'before ohscrvcd, the ^6).oi is the dial
■■-:- and yvMnwv meielv a perpendicular rod
Arabic dciraga, ' step or ' dep-ree,' and the ^vhich showed the time l>v the len-rth of its
Latin gradus; and is taken Ironi aM, ' to shadow), and it was vciv ffeuerally used
f;o up." Mr. Bosanquet has explained tlie ,iii ;, late i)eriod, jud^nnii from the manv
manner in which the suu durinii an annular ,i,.,t liave heen found of Roman times. It
eclipse causeil the shadow to j;o hack in ,„,isisted of a hasin, XtKaviu with a hori-
what he supposes to have heen really a zoiital yi^/,w. in the centre of one end, and
Hi;rlit of steps, and fi\cs the date ol it in t.icvcn coiiverj.Mnj,'- lines in the concave
•laiuiary, n.c fiSi). pm-j divided it into the twelve hours of the
1 Plat, in Tim. p. 467. day; the older dials having' heen marked
-' Ilcrod. 1. i.i. l,v" dc^r,-ees, prohahlv like that of Ahaz.
« Clemens (Strom. 1. p. 300) says Thales xhe Greeks marked the divisions bv the
IS liiou-ht in- some to he a PhaMiician, and (i,.^t twelve letters of the alpiialict," and
quotes Leander and Herodotus; hut the ibiir of these readiiiL' ZHOI, ' Knjovvour-
latter only says his ancestors were Phoeni- self,' are alluded to in an epi^a-am ascribed
cians (i. 170). to Lucian (Epifjr. 17).
■• This was a simple kind of zuXot (for,
Chap. X.] DIVISIONS OF TIME. 319
Aristophanes and described by Aristotle,^ and not being then a
novelty.^ Herodotus says the Greeks received tlie twelve hours
from the Babylonians, and the Jews are supposed not to have
adopted them till after the Cajitivity. The first mention of an
hour is in the Book of Daniel ;^ for though even there the sense
might require it to mean only 'moment,' the use of the word
' time,' immediately before, shows that salt was a division of
time, which is still employed by the Arabs in the same sense of
* hour,' and ' moment.'
The Jews at first divided the day into four^ parts, and their
nis'ht into three watches, and the mention of the dial of Ahaz
])roves that the}^ had also recourse to a more minute division of
time, but no hours are specified ; and afterAvards, when they
adopted them, the numbering of their hours was irregular, as
with the Arabs, being reckoned from sunrise to sunset. The
Greek word wy« was used long before hours were introduced into
Greece. Homer divides the day into three parts ,■* and at Rome
it consisted of two, sunrise and sunset, inerlclies or noon sepa-
rating the two ; and the twelve equal parts were adopted B.C.
291. The natural division of the circle by its radius a
of 60° into six parts, and into six more by the half of
those parts, or by the same radius starting from the
second diameter, c d, which crosses the first, A b, at
right angles, may have been the origin of this con- ^'''- ^3^-
ventional division into twelve parts ; as that into three i)arts
may have been the division of the circle by the length of its
diameter, or 120°.
The Egyptians had twelve hours of day and twelve of night
at a very early period; but there is nothing to show whetlier
this division was first used in Egypt or Chaldsea. The Greeks,
however, who frequented Egypt from the time of Thales,
ought to have been acquainted with the twelve hours there :
and their intercourse being far greater, both for study and for
trade, with Egypt than with Babylon, we might suppose them
more likely to receive them from the former than from that
inland city ; but an intercourse through Asia Minor may have
brought them to Greece from the Babylonians.
It has been a question whether the Egyptians had a week of
1 Piol.l. sect. 16, p. 933. 497; Vitniv. i\. 9; Plin. vii. 37, and ii. 16,
2 Athea. Deipu. iv. p. 174, ami xi. p. on the Horolouiiini.
3 Dan. iv. 19; iii. 6. * II. xxi. HI.
320 THE ANCIEN'J' EGYPTIANS. [Chap. X.
seven days. Dion Cassius evidently shows that this was the
case,^ and liis statement agrees with what Herodotus says of (hiys
being consecrated to certain deities, thougli tlie fact of tlie Egyp-
tians having reckoned by ten days may argue against it. It
must, liowever, be observed that the division of the month into
decades must date after the adoption of a sohir 3-ear, and that
weeks were the approximate result of the lunar division of time^
Avhich is the older of the two. Weeks Avere certaiidy used at a,
very early period ; as we find from Genesis and the account of the
Creation ; and the importance of the number seven is sufficiently
obvious from its frequent occurrence throughout the Bible.^
That the seven-day division was known to the Egy})tian&
seems to be proved by the seven-days' /#^e of Apis (a fourth part
of the number twenty-eight assigned to the years of Osiris'' life)
as well as by their seventy days' mourning for the dead, or ten
weeks of seven days;^ and the seven days that the head took
annually to float to Byblus from Egypt,* the fourteen pieces into
which the body of Osiris was divided, and his twenty-eight years,
evidently point to the length of a week (4X7). The time of
mortification imposed on the priests lasted from seven to forty-
two days (one to six weeks) :^ which shows the entire number to
have been based on seven ; and the same occurs again in the
forty-two books of Hermes, as well as in the forty -two assessoi's of
Amenti. Indeed the frequent occurrence of seven shows that it
was as favorite a number with the Egyptians as with the Jews ;
and tlie Pythagoreans borrowed their preference for the heb-
domadal division from Egypt. There is no reason to conclude
the Egyptians had not weeks of seven days because they divided
their solar month into the very natural division of three parts of
ten each ; it would rather argue that the original lunar month
was divided into seven-day weeks, and that the decade division
was a later introduction, when the months were made to consist
of thirty days. And as the monuments are all of a time long
after the thirty days were adopted, the more frequent mention of a
1 Hist. Rom. xxxvii. 19. days added at the end, wliirli wiie unlucky,
- It was common to all the Semitic as one of them was in Kjryiit. Tiiey hail
nations and to those ol' India ; l)ut in also tlieir astronomical computation l\v
China it was only used by the Buddhists, months of thirteen days, Ufil of which
who introduced It there ;" and the Chinese made their cycle of fifty-two years, the
a< well as all tlio Mongolian races always same number as tliat of the va^ue years
bad five-day divisions, and cycles of six'ty composino- the Ejryptian Sothic period,
vears instead of centuries. The .\ztecs '^ Gen. I. 3.
had also weeks of five days, four of which •• Lucian, dc Dea Syr.
made a month, and the year contained ^ Porphyr. de Abstm. iv. 7.
eighteen months of twenty days, with five
Chap. X.] ARTICLES DEPOSITED IN TOMBS. 321
decade instead of the hebdomadal division is readily accounted
for. Moreover these months of thirty days still continued to be
called ' moons,' as at the present day. Dion Cassius also distinctly
states that the seven days were first referred to the seven planets
by the Egyptians.^
Sufficient data cannot, of course, be expected from the sculp-
tures of the tombs, and the accidental introduction of their
occupations, to enable us to form an accurate opinion respecting
the extent of their knowledge, the variety of their inventions,
or the skill of their workmen in different branches of art. The
objects buried with the dead were frequently mere models of
those they used ; and the pains taken in making them depended
on the sums expended by the friends of the deceased after his
death. It was left to their good intentions, or their superstitious
feelings, to decide of what quality they should be, or what labor
should be bestowed upon them ; and if the kind regards of a
friend frequently induced some to incur considerable expense in
providing such objects, many, on the other hand, were less
scrupulous in the last duties to their departed relative. The for-
mer purchased ornaments of the most costly materials, as agate,^
basalt, granite, alabaster, onyx, jasper, gold, and precious stones ;
the latter were contented with common porcelain, wax, limestone,
or wood. But even the best which have been found in the tombs
are evidently of inferior quality ; and, like their vases and chairs,
none have been discovered equal in beauty to those represented
in the paintings, with the exception of a few rings and some female
ornaments, which had been actually worn by the deceased.
The paintings, again, indicate a very small portion of their
inventions ; many, with which we know they were acquainted,
are omitted ; and the same remark applies to some of their most
common occupations, to the animals they kept, and to the ordi-
nary productions of their country. No exact notion can even be
formed of their costume and the dresses^of various grades, either
1 The Greeks, like the Egyptian!!, as the twelve hours of day and night, the
divided their mouth into three parts, aud twelve kings, twelve gods, twelve months
their year into three decades of months, {12 X '^0 = 360 days), and 360 cups at
corresponding to the three seasons of the Osiris' tomb in Philfe; 12x6 =72 con-
Egyptians : and the Roman month con- spirators against Osiris ; and 12 X 6 = 72,
sisted of calends, nones, and ides, the which some fix as the number of days of
periods before each being of different the embalmed; and instances of both
lengths ; but they afterwards adopted the methods of notation are found on the
division of weeks, giving the names of the oldest monuments of the 4th Dynastj'. —
sun, moon, and five planets to the seven G. W.
days we now use. The Egyptians had 2 go called from Achate, a river in
both decimal aAd duodecimal calculation, Sicily. (Theophr. ^ 58.)
VOL. II. 21
322
THE ANCIENT EGYPTIANS.
[Chap. X.
among men or women, though so frequently represented ; jiartly
owing to their conventioiuil style of drawing figures, partly to
their want of skill in depicting drapery ; which, as I have
observed, was merely added to the figure, without forming part
1 2345 G 78
No. 436.
Men's dresses. 13, a sliirt from the work of Professor Kosellini.
of the subject described; it is, therefore, only the most simple
portion of their dress which can be understood.
Ordinary workmen, and indeed all the lower orders, were
clad in a sort of apron, or kilt, sometimes simply bound round
the loins, and lapping over in front ; and others had short
drawers, extending half-way to the knee.^ The same kind of
1 Woodcut No. 435. This was called the s'enti or sindon, and was worn by all classes.
2 Wooilciit Xo. 4.35, figs. 14 and 15.
Chap. X.J DRESS. 323
a})roii ^vas worn by the higher orders, under an ample dress of
fine linen, reaching to the ankles,^ and provided with large
sleeves.^ The apron was generally fastened by a girdle, or by a
sort of sash, tied in front in a bow or knot : ^ it was sometimes
folded over, with a centre-piece falling down in front, beneath the
part where it overlapped; and some of the poorer classes, while
engaged in laborious occupations, were contented with a roll of
linen passed between the legs, from the back to the front of the
girdle;* which is frequently used at this day by the peasants
when drawing water by the shadoof.
Herodotus mentions^ some Egyptian dresses, wliich he de-
scribes of linen, with a fringe on the border around the legs,
called calasiris ; over which the}' wore a cloak of white wool,
similar, no doubt, to the hornous^ of the present day, so common
in Egypt and the coast of Barbary. I never remember seeing
this cloak represented, except in the dresses worn by the captives
of the Rut-en-nu, who appear to have something of the kind
over their inner garments.
The same custom of edging their dresses with fringes was
connnon to the Israelites, who were ordered ' to make them ' in
the borders of their garments ; " 'a blue ribbon ' being ' put upon
the fringe.' These fringes, as already observed, were only the
ends of the threads composing the woof, left in order to prevent
the cloth unravelling ; and the blue ribbon added by the Israelites
was intended to strengthen it, and prevent its tearing.^''
I have noticed the woollen cloak, and the ])roliibition which
Herodotus says was issued against their wearing it when they
entered a temple, or being buried in cloths of that quality; and
I have also observed that, though cotton garments were some-
times used, the preference Avas given to linen, which was con-
sidered more conducive to cleanliness and health. With regard
to the calasiris mentioned by Herodotus, it does not appear that
they were very generally used ; but dresses are occasionally
represented in the paintings with a fringe,^ and pieces of cloth
have been found in the tombs with this kind of iDorder. Some
1 Woodcut Xo. 436, ^figs. 5, 6, and PL in front, and buttoned over the breast. It
XII.,.;?ff- 1-t [called baeui]. has a liood.
2 Woodcuts No. 370 and Xo. 136, /y. 5 " Xumb. xv. 38.
3 'Woodcut Xo. 97 [the sash or girdle s Manv fragments of rolls of linen,
was called rut, the tie, ta. — S. B.]. with these blue selvages, are in the diflfer-
■» Woodcut Xo. 435, Jiff. 7. ent collections. — S. B.
5 Herodot. ii. 81. 9 Woodcuts Xo. 436, fiyx. 1, 7, 9; and
6 The bornous is a wooUen cloak, open Xo. 438, fig. 1.
324
THE ANCIENT EGYPTIANS.
[Chap. X.
wore a sort of shirt with loose or tight sleeves, o])en at the neck,
where it was tied with strings; ^ and except that it was of linen,
instead of wool, it was not unlike the hisht of the modern inhabit-
ants of Upper Egypt. The dresses of the priests and persons of
rank consisted of an under-garment, similar to the apron already-
mentioned, and a loose npper robe with full sleeves, secured by
a girdle round the loins ; or of the apron, and a shirt with short,
tight sleeves, over which was thrown a loose robe, leaving the
No. 436.
6 7
Dresses of priests.
8, 9. hierogrammateis, or sacreil scribes.
Thebes.
right arm exposed.^ Sometimes a priest, when ofHciating in the
temple, laid aside the upper vesture, and was satisfied to wear an
ample robe bound round the waist, which descended over the
apron to his ankles; and occasionally he put on a long, full
garment, reaching from belowthe arms to the feet,antl supp()rte(i
over the neck with straps.-'^ Others again, in the sacred proces-
sions, were entirely covered with a dress of this kind, reaching to
the throat, and concealing even the hands and arms.'*
1 Woodcuts No. 109, fig. f>, and No. 426.
2 W^oodcut No. 457, jfig. 1.
8 Woodcut No. 436, fiq. 4.
< Woodcut No. 436, fig. 5.
Chap. X.]
DRESS OF PRIESTS AND PRINCES.
325
The costume of the hierograinmateus, or sacred scribe, consisted
of a large kilt or apron, either tied in front, or wound round the
lower part of the body ; and the loose upper robe with full sleeves,
which, in all cases, was of the finest linen ; he had sometimes one
or two feathers on his head, as described by Clemens of Alex-
andria ^ and Diodorus.-
The pterophori, when bearing the sacred emblems, wore a
long full apron reaching to the ankles, tied in front with long
bands, and a strap, also of linen, passed over the shoulder to sup-
Dort it ; ^ but they had no upper robe on these occasions. Some-
No. 437.
Princes and children.
Thebes.
1, head-dress of a prince. 2 and 3, a lock of hair worn hy children. 4, dress of a son of
Kameses III. 5, head-dress of a prince, Rameses.
times a priest who offered incense was clad in this long apron,
and the full robe with sleeves : sometimes only in the former ;
and the dresses of the others in like manner varied on different
occasions.
The princes wore a dress very like that of the sacred scribe,
the apron wound round the body, and divided into three different
1 ' The hieroo^rammateus walks first,
havincT feathers on his head, and a book in
hisliand.' (Clem. Alex. Strom. .5, 6.)
'^' Diodor. i. 87 : ' The sacred scribes
wear a purple fillet and hawk's feather
on their head.' Woodcut No. 436, fig. 9.
This officer in the Decree of Canopus is
called the pterophoros, or feather-bearer,
in the Greek version, and described as the
sacred scribe in the liieroj^lyphics. (Lep-
sius, ' Das bilin<fue Dekret von Canopus,'
fol. Berlin, 1870.) — S. H.
3 Woodcut No. 436, fig. 6.
326 THE ANCIENT EGYPTIANS. [Chap. X.
folds, over which was a g-arnient with hirge sleeves; but tlieir
clistinguishing mark was a peculiar badge at the side of the head,,
descending to the shoulder, and frequently adorned and termi-
nated with a gold fringe. Tliis, I suppose, to have contained
the lock of hair indicative of youth, which is seen in the statues
of Harpocrates, and frequently represented on the heads of
children. For though the Egyptians were shaved, and wore
wigs and other coverings to the head, children were allowed to
leave certain locks of hair ; ^ and if the sons of the king, long
before they arrived at the age of manhood, had abandoned this
youthful custom, the bridge was attached to their head-dress as
an emblem of their rank as princes ; or really to show they had
not, during the lifetime of their father, arrived at kinghood ; on
the same principle that a Spanish prince, of whatever age, con-
tinues to be styled an 'infant.'
I have already noticed those priests who wore a leopard-
skin, which some have mistaken for that of the nehris^ or fawn,
and improperly ascribed to Bacchus. It was generally thrown
over their dress ; its fore-legs sometimes made to form sleeves for
the arms ; and the robes worn beneath it varied at different times.
It was usually confined to the high-priests, who superintended'
the sacrifices and processions of the sacred boats or arks ; who
l)resented the offerings at the altar of the gods, and at the
funerals of individuals, or who anointed the king at his corona-
tion ; and the same badge was assumed by the monarch when
officiatino' on similar occasions.
The robes of the sovereign varied, of course, according to his
innnediate occupation. When engaged as high-priest, they much
resembled those worn by the principal functionaries of the sacer-
dotal order, with the exception of the apron and head-dress,,
which were of peculiar form, and belonged exclusively to his
rank as king.
This apron was richly ornamented in front with lions' heads
and other devices, probably of colored leather ; and the border
was frequently formed of a row of asps, the emblems of royalty.
Sometimes the royal name, with an asp on each side as sup-
porters^ was embroidered upon it, the upper part being divided
into square compartments of different colors; but it is not
improbable that this formed an appendage to the girdle, rather
than to the apron ; and several straps falling down at the side of
1 Woodcuts No. 437, .fi'.h 3; mul No. 220, ./?./. 2.
Chap. X.]
DRESS OF THE KINGS.
327
the centre piece show that it was tied in front, and came over
the folds of the apron, and even of the upper robes.
The head-dress of the king, on state occasions, was the crown
of the upper or of the lower country, or the pshent, the union of
the two. Every king, after the sovereignty of the Theba'id and
Lower Egypt had become once more vested in the same person,
put on this double crown at his coronation ; and we find in the
No. 438.
2, 3, the
Dress of the kiiif
king's apron. 3 is from a statue of Amenophis III. in the Museum at Alnwick
Castle. 4, wreath of the crown of Sabaco's statue at the Isle of Argo.
grand representation given of this ceremony at Medeenet Haboo,
that the principal feature of the proclamation, on his ascension
to the throne, was the announcement to the four sides of the
world, that 'Rameses had put on the crown of the upper and
lower country.' He even wore his crown during the heat of
battle 1 like the kings of olden days in Europe ; sometimes merely
' Generally the king wore a peculiar
kind of helmet called -f^epers' , larjrer and
broader at the top, which is vaulted, than
where it fitted the head. It is always,
when painted, colored blue with yellow
amulets, perhaps intended to represent
studs. The helmet of Psammatichus I.
was oflironze, and the Shairetana, or Sar-
dinians, evidently wore metallic helmets,
so that the rei;al helmets may have been
of steel covered with brass or f;old studs.
According to some, it was of panther skin.
A ribbon was attached to it. (Pierret,
' Diet. d'Arch. figypt.' p. 119.) — S. B.
328
THE ANX'IENT EGYPTIANS.
[Chap. X.
a wig; but a helmet,^ made apparently of woollen stuff" with a
thick nap, not very unlike the modern Persian cap, was generally
preferred ; and in religious ceremonies he put on a stri];ed head-
No. 439
1, a close cap. 2, 3, 4, .5, wigs. 6, the crown of the upper and lower country, or s and 9
united. 10 to 14, royal head-dresses. 15, beard of a king. 16, of a god. 17, of a private
individual of rank.
dress, probably of linen, which descended in front over the breast,
and terminated behind in a sort of queue bound with riband.^
When crowned, the king invariably ])ut on the two crowns at the
same time, though on other occasions lie was iicriiiitted to wear
1 Tlic Ejfyptian helmet had no citJSt. I
have mentioned the orijrin of crests. The
Greek crest was copied from the mane of a
horse; and in illustration of this we fre-
quently find the scales or cheek-pieces of
the helmet made to imitate the ears of that
animal, which, when raised and turned up,
project from the upper part on either side,
('(.nf. Iliad, A, -Wi, the liolmet of Achilles
with a horse's tail, and \'irg'. ,En. x. 369.
•^ Woodcut N'o. 439, fi<j. 13.
Chap. X.]
WIGS.
329
each separately, whether in the temple, the city, or the field of
battle ; and he even appeared in his helmet ^ during the cere-
monies in honor of the gods. On some occasions he wore a
short wig, on which a band was fastened, ornamented with an asp,
the emblem of royalty .^
It may ajjpear singular that so warm a covering to the head
should have been adopted in the climate of Egypt ; but when we
recollect that they always shaved the head, and that the reticu-
lated texture of the groundwork, on which the hair was fastened.
No. 440. Front and back of an Egj'ptian wig, in the British JIuseuni.
3 shows the appearance of the long plaits, a a.
allowed the heat of the head to escape, while the hair effectually
protected it from the sun, it is evident that no better covering
could have been devised, and that it far surpassed in comfort and
coolness the modern turban, which is always found by those who
are in the habit of wearing it, to be very agreeable in hot weather,
[)rovided all the particulars are attended to which the Turks find
so essential, but which those Europeans who merely put it on for
effect too often neglect.
The upper portion of the wig was frequently made with
curled, and not with plaited hair, this last being confined to the
sides and lower ])art, as is the case in the wigs preserved in the
British and Berlin Museums ; but the whole was sometimes com-
posed of a succession of plaits, commencing from the centre
of- the crown, extending downwards, and increasing in length
1 Herodot. ii. 151,
Woodcut No. 430, /r/. 11.
330
THE AXCIENT EGYPTIANS.
[CUAP. X.
towards the bottom. Some smaller wigs, worn by persons of
rank, consisted of short locks of equal length arranged in unifoi-m
lines, imitations of which appear to have been made in woollen
or other stuffs, under the denomination of false Avigs, for the use
of those Avho could not afford the more expensive quality of
real hair.
Wigs were worn both within the house and out of doors, like
the turban of the present day ; and a priest might even officiate
on some occasions in his wig. At parties,
the head-dress of every guest was bound
with a chaplet of flowers, and ointment ^ was
put upon the top of the wig, as if it had
really been the hair of the head;'-^ and one
instance occurs of a wreath of leaves
placed round the crown of a king, on a
statue of Sabaco, in Ethiopia, j)recisel3'
siiiiilar to those worn by the Romans.^
The Egyptians, says Herodotus, ' only
let the hair of their head "* and beard grow
in mourning, being at all other times
shaved ; ' ^ whicli agrees ]ierfectly with the
authority of the Bible,*^ and of the sculp-
tures. So particular, indeed, were they on
this point, that to have neglected it was
a subject of reproach and ridicule ; and
whenever they intended to convey the
idea of a man of low condition, or a slo-
venly person, the artists represented
It is amusing to find that their love of cari-
cature was not confined to the lower orders, but extended even
to the king ; and the negligent habits of Rameses VII. are indi-
cated in his tomb at Thebes by the appearance of his chin,
blackened by an unshorn beard of two or three da3's' growth.
But it was likewise given as the test of hardships undergone in
a severe campaign ; and the warlike character of Rameses the
Great is pointed out in the same manner.
Wig about 2i feet in length,
seen in front.
No. 441. Berlin Museum.
him with a beard."
1 Athen. xv. 13, and Juv. Sat. xv. 50.
2 The chaplet was called m«A, or crowu,
the head oil, or ointment, api, or tepi. —
S. B.
3 Woodcut No. 438, fiq. 4.
■» Diodorus (i. 18) states that they suf-
fered the hair to <^row when on a journey ;
but this was probably on accomplishing a
vow.
o Herodot. ii. 36, and iii. 12. [Juvenal,
Sat. vi. 532. — G. W.]
G Gen. xli. 14. Joseph, when sent for
by Pharaoh from prison, ' shaved himself,
and cb;iiiL;eil his raiment.'
" Woodcut No. 135.
€hap. X.] HABITS OF CLEANLINESS. 331
The Egyptians did not confine the privilege of shaving to
freeborn citizens, like the Romans, who obliged slaves to wear
their beards and hair long, and only permitted them the use of a
cap ^ after they had been enfranchised ; and though foreigners
who were brought to Egypt as slaves had beards on their arrival
in the country, we find that so soon as they were employed in
the service of this civilized people, they were obliged to conform
to the cleanly habits of their masters, their beards and heads
were shaved, and they adopted a close cap.
The priests were remarkable for their love of cleanliness,
which was carried so far that they shaved the whole body every
three days, and performed frequent daily ablutions, bathing twice
a day and twice during the night.^ It was not confined to their
order; every Egyptian prided himself on the encouragement of
habits which it was considered a disgrace^ to neglect: we can,
therefore, readily account for the disgust they felt on seeing the
squalid appearance and unrefined habits of their Asiatic neigh-
bors, whose long beards were often the subject of ridicule to the
Egyptian soldier : and for their abhorrence of the bearded and
long-haired Greeks, which was so great, that, according to
Herodotus,^ " no Egyptian of either sex would on any account
kiss the lips of a Greek, make use of his knife, his spit and cal-
dron, or taste the meat of an animal which had been slaughtered
by his hand.' The same habits of cleanliness are also indicated
by the ' changes of raiment ' given by Joseph ^ to his brethren
when they set out to bring their father to Egypt. Barbers may
be considered the offspring of civilization ; and as a Roman
youth, when arrived at the age of manhood, cut off" his beard,
and consecrated it to some deity as a token of having emerged
from a state of childhood, so a people, until they have adopted
the custom of shaving, may be supposed to retain a remnant of
their early barbarism. The Romans, at first, like other people,
allowed their beards to grow, until about 454 years after the
building of the city (B.C. 299), when P. Ticinius Mena, having
brought barbers from Sicily, introduced the custom at Rome,
and, as Pliny states,^ ' Scipio African us was the first Roman who
shaved every day.' They resembled the Egyptians rather than
1 Livius, xlv. 44 : • Pileatum, capite * Gen. xlv. 22 : ' To all of them he gave
rase . . . libertum.' each man chang-es of raiment; but to
^ Herod, li. 37. Porphyry says thrice a Benjamin he "-ave three hundred jiieces of
day, and a nocturnal ablution occasionally. silver, and five changes of raiment.'
3 Ibid. ii. 37. Pint, de Isid s. 3. 6 plin. yii. 59.
4 Ibid. li. 41 and 91.
332 'I'HE ANCIENT EGYPTL\%"S. ffiiAP. X.
the Greeks in this respect, and in the habit of allowing the liair
of the heatU and beard to grow in mourning ; the Greeks, on the
contrary, shaving themselves on those occasions.
The prejudice of these last in favor of long hair^ seems to
be retained to the present day ; for though the modern Greeks-
have adopted a Modem custom, and wear the red faz of the
coast of Barbar}', the}^ have remained insensible to the comfort
and cleanliness of shaving, and have preferred the inconsistency
of covering the head with a close cap^ and cherisliing the
gr(nvth of long hair.
With the Egyjjtians it was customary to shave the heads even
of young children, leaving only certain locks at the front, sides,
and back,"^ and those of the lower classes were allowed to go out
in the sun with the head exposed, without the protection of a
cap, which is the reason assigned by Herodotus^ for the hardness
of the Egyptian skulls comp^ired with those of other people. 'I
became acquainted,' says the historian, 'with a remarkable fact,
which was pointed out to me by the people living in the neigh-
borhood of the field of battle, where the Egyptians and the army
of Cambyses fought , the bones of the killed being still scattered
about, those of the Persians on one side, and of the Egyptians on
the other. I observed that the skulls of the former were so soft
tliat you could perforate them with a small pebble, while those of
the latter were so strong that with dilliculty you could break them
with a large stone. The reason of which, as they told me, and I
can readily believe it, is that, the P^gyptians being in the habit
of shaving their heads in early youth, the bones become thick-
ened ; and hence, too, they are never bald, for certainly, of all
countries, nowhere do you see fewer bald people than in Egypt.
The Persians, on the contrary, have soft skulls, in consequence of
their keeping the head covered from the sun, and enveloped in
soft caps. I also observed the same of those who were killed
in the battle between Acha3menes and Inarus the Libyan.' It
was usual for the lower orders to work in the sun without any
covering to tlic head, as the modern jjeasants of Egypt, who
apj)ear to inherit from their predecessors skulls of unconnnon
1 Ami in youth, whence chiklren are unhecomiiiL' h:its, hut there is not the same
called 'capillatos' hv Petronius Arbiter ohje(?tion to them on the score of cleanli-
(Satyr.). Martial. Eiiiixr. ]\ii lib. 10. ness.
2 "Homer, II. B, 11; e, 53, &c Apollo ■• As with the Chinese, and modern
was represented with longhair. 1 Cor. xi. Epvptians. Woodcut No. 220, _/?;/■ -■
14. i Herod iii. 12.
3 The Greeks ridicule and abhor our
Chap. X.] HAIli AND BEARD. 333
hardness ; and we see the same chiss of persons represented in the
paintings with and without a cap, whether in the house or in the
open field. Herodotus says,^ when the Egyptians perforin their
vows, they shave the heads of their children, either entirely, or
lialf, or only a third ; ^ and putting the hair and some silver into
a pair of scales, dedicate an eijual weight of the latter to the
animal which is sacred to the deity they invoke. This does not,
however, imply that they left the whole head unshaven ; and the
hair to which he refers was probably the long, pendent locks
represented in the Theban sculptures. Persons of all classes
occasionally wore caps, some of which were large, others fitting
tight to the head ; but these last were considered far less be-
coming than the wig, and suited rather to the lower orders than
to persons of rank. Women always wore their own hair,^ and
they were not shaved even in mourning or after death.
The use of wigs was not confined to the Egyptians of all
people of antiquity : the Romans, under the Emperors, adopted
also a sort of peruke, called capillamentum or (jalerus, though
it seems rather to have been worn by w^omen than men ; and
Juvenal* describes MessaMna putting on a wig of flaxen hair to
conceal her own black locks when she left the palace in disguise.
The most singular custom of the Egyptians was that of tying
a false beard under- the chin, which was made of plaited hair, and
of a peculiar form, according to the person by whom it was
worn. Private individuals had a small beard, scarcely two
inches long ; that of a king was of considerable length, square
at the bottom ; and the figures of gods were distinguished by
its turning up at the end. No man ventured to assume, or
affix to his image, the beard of a deity ; but after their death it
was permitted to substitute this divine emblem on the statues
of kings, and all other persons who were judged worthy of
admittance to the Elysium of futurity, in consequence of their
having assumed the character of Osiris, to whom the souls of
the pure returned on quitting their earthly abode.
1 Herod, ii. 65, papyrus as hard at work, goinjr about from
- The barber, called haq, was in eon- street to street seekinji- for employment till
stant employment, and scenes of shavinji: tlie evenin',''. ('Records of the Past,' vol.
are represented in the sculptures. His in- iii. p. 148.) — S. B.
struments and razors varied at dilferent ^ i Qor. .\i. 6.
tim^s, being- sometimes in shape of a small ** .Tuv. Sat. vi. 120 : ' Et nigrum flavo
short hatchet, with recurved handle ; other crinem abscondente galero.' [The ancients
instruments, knife-shaped, were also em- often dyed their hair, a practice condemned
ployed. These were carried in a small by Clemens of Alexandria (Pifdagog. iii. c.
open-mouthed bag. lie is described in a 2 and 3), and also by St. Jerome. — G. W.]
334
THE AXCIENT EGYPTIANS.
[Chap. X.
The form of the beard, therefore, readily distiiigui.shes the
figures of gods and kings in the sacred subjects of the temples ;
and the allegorical connection between the sphinx and the
monarch was pointed out by its having the kingly beard, as
Avell as the crown, and other symbols of royalty.
The dresses of children of the lower classes were very simple ;
and, as Diodorus^ informs us, the expenses incurred in feeding
and clothing them amounted to a mere tritie. 'They feed
them,' he says, 'very lightly, and at an incredibly small cost;
giving them a little meal of the coarsest and cheapest kind, the
pith of the papyrus, baked under the ashes, with the roots and
stalks of some marsh weeds, either raw, boiled, or roasted ; and
since most of them are brought up, on account of the mildness
of the climate, without shoes, and indeed without any other
clothing,^ the whole expense incurred by the parents does not
exceed 20 drachmse (about 13 shillings) each ; and this frugalit}'
is the true reason of the populousness^ of Egypt.' Eat the
children of the higher orders were often dressed like grown
persons, with a loose robe reaching to the ankles, and sandals.'*
Infants do not appear to have been swaddled, as among
the Jews, Greeks, and Romans. When too 3'oung to walk,
if taken out b}' a mother or
nurse, they were carried in a
shawl, suspended at her back,
before her or at her side ; a
custom still retained by the
women of the Moghrebin
Arabs; and in Ethiopia they
were carried in baskets, sup-
ported at the mother's back
by a band passing over her
forehead.''
Sometimes, though nearly
or entirely naked, the neck of
an Egyptian child was decorated with a string of beads; and
occasionally a bifUa, or charm, was suspended in the centre, rep-
resenting the symbol of truth and justice, which has l)een
supposed also to indicate the heart, and is usually found in the
1
No. 44
Women carrying theii- children in a
funeral procession. Thebes.
1 Diodor. i. 80.
2 Woodcut No. 220, /</. 2, and No. 442.
3 Pliny (vii. 3) miprht attribute it to the
Egyptian" women liaving occasionally geven
children at a hiith.
autliorilv, Ti'ouus.
* Plate XII., AV/. 1.
5 Woodcut No.' 88.
iives as his
Chap. X.l
SANDALS.
335
balance of the judgment scenes, as a representative of the good
works of the deceased. A bulla of this kind was worn by the
No. 443. Sanilals and shoes found in Egypt.
1, 2, 3, shoes of green leather, probably of Greek time. Mr. Salt's Collection.
4, 5, upper and lower side of a pair of sandals, made of palm leaves and the papyrus, 11
inches long and 3 broad. In the Museum of Alnwick Castle.
6, sole of a sandal 1 foot long and 3| inches broad. Alnwick Castle.
7, a sandal, and 8, a sandal with sides like a shoe, both in the Berlin (jollection.
jonthful deity Harpocrates.i It was probably of gold, or hard
' Materia Hieroglyphica, Pantheon, plato 11, Jig. 3.
336
THE ANCIENT EGYPTIx^NS.
[CUAP. X-
stone, like those of the Roimms ; ^ and others worn by the
poorer classes, as at Rome and in modren Egypt, were of leather.
They were sii})j)osed to ]»i(ini[)t the wearer to virtue and wisdom, to
keep off the evil eye, or to a\'ert misfortune ; and supei'stition
induced many to appeal to them in danger, and derive from
them omens of forthcoming events. Sometimes a charm con-
sisted of a written piece of })apyrus tightly rolled up, and sewed
into a covering of linen or other sul)stance, several of which
^
.^1
No. 444.
Sandals
Bo-till Museum.
1, from the sculptures. 2, in the Berlin Mnsenni; made of the papyrus.
3, figure of a captive on tlie sole.
have been found at Thebes ; and emblems of various deities
were appended to necklaces for the same purpose.
Ladies and men of rank paid great attention to the beauty of
their sandals : but on some occasions those of the middle classes
wlio were in the habit of wearing them preferred walking bare-
footed; and in religious ceremonies the priests frequently took
them off while performing their duties in the temple. The
sandals 2 varied slightly in form : those worn by the ujiper classes
1 The I'onian and Etruscan ('hiklrcn
liad soniciimos tliree or four htilhv, as we
see from statues that have been found.
(Vir^'. ,En. \ii. 942.) I'liny (xxxiii. 1)
explains who wore tlic goklcu bulla, and
wlio tlie leathern lorum. (Juv. Sat. xiii.
33, and I'ers. Sat. v. 31, &e.)
- Sandals did not come into use till the
fttli Dynasty, and tliere is no instance of
tliem before that tinie on the marl)les.
Chap. X.] DRESS OF WOMEN. 337
and by women were usually pointed and turned up at the end,
like our skates and many Eastern slippers of the present day.
Some had a sharp flat point, others were nearly round. They
were made of a sort of woven or interlaced work, of palm leaves
and papyrus stalks, or other similar materials, sometimes of
leather, and were frequently lined within with cloth, on which
the figure of a captive was painted ; ^ that humiliating position
being considered suited to the enemies of their countr}', whom
they hated and despised — an idea agreeing perfectly with the
expression which so often occurs in the hieroglyphic legends
accompanying a king's name, when his valor and victories are
recorded on the sculptures : ^ You have trodden the impure
Gentiles under your powerful feet.' Shoes, or low boots, were
also common in Egypt, many having been found at Thebes : ^
but these I believe to have been of late date, and to have be-
longed to Greeks ; for, since no persons are represented in the
paintings wearing them except foreigners,^ we may conclude they
were not adopted by the Egyptians, at least in a Pharaonic
age. They were of leather, generally of a green color, laced
in front by thongs, which passed through small loops on either
side, and were principally used, as in Greece and Etruria, by
women.
The dresses of women consisted sometimes of a loose robe or
shirt, reaching to the ankles, with tight or full sleeves, and
fastened ui. the neck, like those of the men, with a string, over
which the}' wore a sort of petticoat, secured at the waist by a
girdle ; and this, ir mourning, while bewailing the death of a
relative, was frequently their only dress."*
Such was the costume of the lower classes of women ; and
sometimes indeed, as at the present day, it consisted merely of
the loose shirt or robe, without shoes or sandals.
The higher orders wore a petticoat or gown, secured at the
waist by a colored sash, or by straps over the shoulders ; and
above this was a large loose robe, made of the finest linen, with
full sleeves,^ and tied in front below the breast ; and during some
religious ceremonies the rio-lit arm was taken out of the sleeve
They were, when off the feet, sometimes i Woodcut Xo. 444, iig. 3.
on fried by an attendant, sho\vin<r that they 2 Woodcut No. 443, figs. 1. 2, 3.
were not always worn. On entering- tli'e 3 Plate XII. ; and' woodcut No. 78,
royal presence they were taken otl". Their .fiij.l.
sliapc varied at different periods: tliat of " •> Woodcut No. 7. Herodot. ii. 8.5.
No. 444, _^^. 1, is of the period of the 20th •> Mateiia Hieroo-. part 2, plate iv. ; and
Dynasty. — S. B. woodcut No. 8, Hg. ;i.
VOL. II. 22
338
THE ANCIENT EGYPTIANS.
IChap. X.
and left exposed,^ as in the funeral processions. The petticoat or
gown was of richly-colored stuff, presenting a great variety
of patterns, not unlike our modern chintzes, the most elegant of
which were selected for the robes of deities and the dresses
of queens.
No. 445.
Dresses of women.
The sash in Jigs. 1 and 2, though represented at the side, is to be understood as tied in
front. In./iV/. 3 the side hair appears to be fixed by a comb; and before it, on the cheek, the
sliort hair" is arranged in separate plaits. Fig. 4 shows the shirt tied at the neck; it is a
terra-cotta statue.
Slaves or servants were not allowed to wear the same costume
as ladies, and their mode of dressing the hair was different.
They generally bound it at the back part of the head into a sort
of loop, or arranged it in one or more long plaits at the back, and
eight or nine similar ones were suffered to hang down at either
side of the neck and face.'-^ They wore a long tight gown, tied at
the neck, with short close sleeves, reaching nearly to the elbow;
and sometimes a long loose robe was throv^ii over it, when
employed to dance, 'or to present themselves on festive occasions;
and strings of beads were worn round their hips, as is now the
case in Kordofan and Upper Ethiopia, where also the women
dress their hair like the ancient Egyptians, in two parts, as in
woodcut No. 445, fi(j. o.
1 Woodcut No. 8, figs. 1, 2, and 3. Roscllini, pi. xix. No, 1.
a Woodcuts No. 261 and No. 304.
Chap. X.] HEAD-DRESS OF WOMEN. 339
Ladies wore their hair long and phiited. The back part was
made to consist of a number of strings of hair, reaching to the
bottom of the shoulder-blades, and on each side other strings of
the same length descended over the
breast. The hair was plaited in the
triple plait, the ends being left loose ;
or, more usually, two or three plaits
were fastened together at the extrem-
ity by woollen string of corresponding
color. Around the head was bound
an ornamental fillet, fastened with a
lotus bud, falling over the forehead ;
and the strings of hair at the sides
were separated and secured with a "xo'!1l(f%.m,nnn'-caIe.'^''°'" *
comb or band, ornamented in various
ways according to the fancy of the wearer ; and occasionally
a round stud or pin was thrust into them at the front. The
women of ancient Egypt appear to have been very pretty,
though some authors have denied this. Their charms were
recommended to Cambyses.
The short hair at the side of the face, which the ingenuity of
ancient Roman ^ and modern European ladies has, by the aid of
gum, compelled it to lie in an immovable curve upon the cheek,
was interwoven with several of its longer neighbors ; and
these being bound together at the end with string or in a
single ' corkscrew ' curl, fell down before the earring, wliich
they partially concealed. This appears to have been peculiar
to married women.
Many of the mummies of women have been found with the
hair perfectly preserved, plaited in the manner I have men-
tioned; the only alteration in its appearance being the change
of its black hue, which became reddened by exposure to great
heat during the process of embalming. Sometimes, too, the hair
of another person, perhaps of an attached relative, was buried
with the mummy.
The earrings most usually worn by Egyptian ladies - were
large, round, single hoo[)S ^ of gold, from one inch and a half to
two inches and one-third in diameter, and frequently of a still
1 This little crive-cceur appears in the in Africa and Italy, hut not by men ia
bnsts of several Roman ladies of the time Ecrypt. — G. W.]
of the Empire. 3 Woodcuts No. 4:b'2,Jii/. 5, and No. 296.
2 [Earrinjifs were, and are, worn i)y men
340
1" 1 1 K A N ( 1 E N r E( . V I'T 1 A N -S.
I Chap. X.
greater size ; or made ->'.' six rings soldered together. Sometimes
ail asp, wlidse body was oi' gold set with precious stones, was
worn hy persons of rank as a fashionaljle caprice; but it is
pr(»bal)le that this emblem of majesty was usually contined to
members of the royal family.
Earrings of other forms have also been foinid at Thebes, but
tiieii' date is uncertain ; and it is diflicult to say if the}' are of an
ancient Egyptian age, or of (rreek inti'o<biction. Of these the
most remarkable are a dragon,- and anotlicr of fancy shape, which
is not inelegant.^ Some few were of silver, and plain ho()[)s. like
those made of gold already noticed, but less massive, being of the
thickness of an ordinary ring ; at one end was a small opening,
into which the curved extremity of the other caught after it had
been passed through the ear ; * and others were in the form of
simple studs.^
Women wore many rings,^ sometimes two and three on the
same finger. The left was considered the hand " peculiarly privi-
leged to bear these ornaments ; and it is remarkable that its third
finger was decorated with a greater number than any other, and
was considered by them, as by us, jtar exci'llfncc the ring linger ; ^
though there is no evidence of its having been so honored at
the marriage ceremony.^ They even wore a ring on the thumb :
1 ^Voo(lcut No. 452, figs. 6 and 7.
2 Woodcut No. 448, fig. 10, not unlike
one oftlic Chinese dragons.
3 Woodcut No. 448, ftp. 21.
* W^oodcut No. 4;V2.'/r'f/. ")•
5 Cf. Woodcut No. ■l')2,fif,. 4.
6 In the great Harris papyrus signets,
■)(atern, and finger-rings, teh. The jirincnpal
varieties of rings are alreadj- described in
the text. Those with square revolving
bezels or scaraha?i are of the period of the
18th and 19tli dynasties. Solid gold rings,
with oval bezels, appear to he rather later,
as do those with square i)czcls. Silver,
plated copper, or bronze rings of the same
sliape, came into use at the same time, and
<'(>ntinued till tiie Greek and Roman period,
when iron rings of the shape were iutro-
duceil. The use of the scarahaMi^ <lcclined
after tlie 20tii Dynasty. When set m
swivel rings, they wci-e mounted in a gold
frame round tlie ediic, wliich was >ome-
times engrailed. The soal» attiichcil to
letters of the Ptolemaic and Homau )ieriod
appear to have been impressed from signet
rings. The porcelain rings are of the 18th
and 19th dynasties, not later. C'ylinders
have been rarelv if ever found set as swivel
rings, although a plain lapis-lazuli one, in
an P^iivjitian setting, is in the collection of
tlie Britisli Museum. Solid jasper,carnelian,
and other rings of liard stone, are Ibund in
all collections, and were evidently in use in
the days of Eanieses III., and later; l)ut
none occur at an early period. It is very
ditlicult to distinguish between the ring
worn for mere ornament and the signet
employed to seal epistles anil other tilings.
Signet and other rings are often found on
the tingers of the nnimmies, and were
buried with them — a custom not found
pnulcnt or convenient at the present day.
Tile devices on rings were, as st.ated above,
veiy various. — S. B.
" Tlie same with the Eomans il'lin.
.wxiii. 1); the}- wore rings on all but the
middle finger. This last was preferred by
the (Jaiils and Hritons.
■^ I'liii. \xxiii. 1. Of the fingers on
which v'wvsi were worn. [Macrob. .Sat.
vii. — «. W.l
■' Plin. (xNxiii. 1) mentions the iron
ring worn l)v a person bctrothe<l. He
thinks they had no rings in Homer's time.
But in EiTvpt they were used long before.
[Clem. Alex, r.fdagog. iii. 99. — G. W.J
Chap. X.] RINGS. 341
and I have seen upon the riglit hand of a wooden figure a ring
on the thumb and two on the third finger ; and upon the left,
one upon the thumb and little finger, two on the fore and second
fingers, and three on the third, as may be seen in the accompanying
No. 447. Hands of a wooden figure of a woman. On the lid of a mummy-case in the
British Museum.
wood-cut. The upper ring on the middle finger is set with a shell
of a species common in the Red Sea, a monodonta, or a trochus.
Some rings were simple ; others were made with a scarabaeus,
or an engraved stone ; and they were occasionally in the form
of a snail, a knot, a snake, or some fancy device. They were
mostly of gold ; and this metal seems to have been always pre-
ferred to silver for rings and other articles of jewellery. Silver
rings, however, are occasionally met with ; and two in my pos-
session, which were accidentally found in a temple at Thebes, are
engraved with hieroglyphics containing the name of theroy al city.
Bronze was seldom used for rings, though some signet rings
were of this material. Some have been discovered of brass ^
andiron (of a Roman time, as I have before observed); ^ but
ivory and blue porcelain were the materials of which those worn
by the lower classes were usually made. The scarabseus was the
favorite form both for rings and the ordinary ornaments of
necklaces : in some, the stone, flat on both faces, turned on pins,
like many of our seals at the present day ; and the ring itself
was bound round at each end, where it was inserted into the
stone, with gold wire. This was common not only to rings but
to signets, and was intended for ornament as well as security.
1 I am not sure if the alloy in them is zinc. I suspect it to be gold.
2 Plin. xxxiii. 1 and 3, on iron rinj^s.
342
THE ANCIENT EGYPTIANS.
[Chap. X.
One of the largest signets I have seen was in the possession of
a French gentleman at Cairo, which contained twenty pounds'
No. 448.
Rings, signets, bracelets, and earrin'js.
Fig. 1. Bronze bracelet, or bangle, in the Aluseuni of Alnwick Castle. 2. Gold bracelet
intheLeyden Museum, bearing the name of Thothnies III. 1^ inch high, and 3 inches in
diameter. .3. Scarab.-Bus of amethyst with a sphinx, emblematic of fhe king, trampling on a
prostrate enemy ; over it i^ the expression ' Good (iod. Lord of tlie worM.' 4. a gold signet,
mentioned in this page. 5,6,7. The three other sides of the i)liiith. 8. A gold ring. 9. I'lie
engraved face of it. 10. A gold earring, about U inch in diameter. 12. A gold ring in my
possession, four-fifths of an inch in diameter, ll". The face of it, of the real size. 13. Gold
ring with two asps. 14. A snake bracelet of gold. l.'S. .V stone scarabseus. 16. Gold earring.
17. (!old earring with two pearls, a and t. 18,19,20. Other gold earrings. 21. Gold earring,
1 inch high, and six-tenths broad. 22, 23. Kiugs of porcelain, or blue-glazed pottery; Mu-
seum of Alnwick Castle.
worth of gold. It consisted of a massive ring, half an inch in its
largest diameter, bearing an oblong plinth, on which the devices
Chap. X.] JEWELRY. 343
were engraved,^ one inch long, ^^^ in. in its greatest, and -^^ in. in
its smallest breadth. On one face was the name of a king, the
successor of Amenophis III., who lived about tj.c. 1400; on the
other a lion, with the legend ' Lord of strength,' referring to the
monarch : on one side a scorpion, and on the other a crocodile.^
Two cats, sitting back to back and looking round towards each
other, with an emblem of the goddess Athor between them, seem
to have been a favorite device on gold rings ; and I have seen
three or four of this pattern, one of whicli is in my possession.-'^
They also had large gold anklets or bangles,"^ armlets, and
bracelets,^ frequently inlaid with precious stones or enamel ; some
were in the shape of snakes, and others as simple rings, and worn
by men as well as women. Kings are often represented with
armlets and bracelets ; and in the Leyden Museum is a gold
one^ bearing the name of the third Thothmes, which was doubt-
less once worn by tliat monarch ; and, without any great license
of imagination, we may suppose it to have been seen by Moses
himself, if Thothmes was the Pharaoh who oppressed the Israelites,
and into whose presence the Jewish legislator was so often
summoned.
Handsome and richly-ornamented necklaces were a principal
part of the dress, both of men " and women ; and some idea may
be formed of the number of jewels they wore from those borrowed
by the Israelites at the time of the Exodus, and by the paintings
of Thebes. They consisted of gold, or of beads of various
qualities and shapes, disposed according to fancy ; generally
with a large drop or figure in the centre. Scarabsei, gold, and
cornelian bottles, or the emblems of goodness and stability, lotus
flowers in enamel, amethysts, pearls, false stones, imitations of
fish, shells, and leaves, with numerous figures and devices, were
strung in all the variety which their taste could suggest ; and
the sole Museum of Leyden possesses an infinite assortment
of those objects, which were once the pride of the ladies of
Thebes.
Some wore simple gold chains, in imitation of string, to
1 Pliny (xx:;iii. 1) is wrouoj. s Called men nefer en q..bi, ' armlets,' oi-
2 Conf. also the "-old signet ring with al, ' chains.'
the name and titles of Thothmes III., puh- 6 Woodcut No. 448, %. 2.
lislied by Bonomi in the ' 'J^rans. of the " Necklaces and bracelets were worn by
Royal Soc. of Lit.,' 2d series, vol. i. p. the Carthaginians, and l\v many Euro-
109. peans, as the Gauls, Sabines, and others.
3 Woodcut No. 44^^, figs. 11 and 12. Jiidah's bracelets and signet are mentioned
4 Plin xxxiii. 3. in Gen. xxxviii. 18.
344
THE ANCIENT EGYPTIANS.
I Chap. X.
o Z
~ 5o
J;
'Ei u X ;h
:,
N - " '^
-5
i: 3j.^ 3^
5
, of b
aves ;
of vvl
ices,
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m 0 , _
a.'- = ^
S !>■- v. -
0 m * J J)
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qjr* ^ c5*«
urH t-^ 0
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ft is the
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, in the
, \V, X,
2:-,gD>
1 As these necklaces have always been
re-strung, the exact arrangement of the
beads cannot always be relied on; and in
some instances beads from other neck-
laces, or even collars, have been introduced.
The sepulchral scarabspus, for example, h
in U, could never have been used for a.
necklace. — S B.
Chap. X.] JEWELRY. 345
which a stone scarabaeus, set in the same precions metal, was
appended ; but these probably belonged to men, like the torques
of the Romans.^ A set of small cups, or covered saucers, of
bronze gilt, hanging from a chain of the same materials, were
sometimes worn by women ; a necklace of which has been found
belonging to a Theban lady — offering a striking contrast in their
simplicity to the gold leaves, inlaid with lapis-lazuli,^ red and
green stones, of another she wore, which served, with many more
in her possession, to excite the admiration of her friends.
The devices engraved on scarabsei, rings, and other objects of
ornamental luxe^ varied according to the caprice of individuals.
Rings frequently bore the name of the wearer ■, others of the
monarch in whose reign he lived ; others, again, the emblems of
certain deities ; and many were mere fanciful combinations. The
greater number consisted of scarabsei, mounted upon a gold ring
passing through them : the scarabseus itself was of green stone,
carnelian, haematite, granite, serjoentine, agate, lapis-lazuli, root
of emerald, amethyst, and other materials ; and a cheaper kind
was made of limestone, or steatite, stained to imitate a harder
and dearer quality, or of the ordinary blue pottery.
Of the various objects of the toilet, found at Thebes and
other places, the principal are bottles or vases for holding oint-
ment and kohl ^ or collyrium for the eyes, nnrrors, combs, and
the small boxes, spoons, and saucers already mentioned. The
ointment was scented in various ways, and I have had occasion
to notice some preserved in the Museum at Alnwick Castle, which
has retained its odor ^ several centuries : and the great use ° of
ointment by the Egvptians is sufficiently indicated in the paint-
ings representing the reception of guests at their parties.
With the exception of the little found in the tombs, we have
nothing to guide us respecting the nature of Egyptian ointments.
Some appear to be made with a nut oil,^ but it is probable that
animal as well as vegetable grease was employed for this purpose :
the other ingredients depending on the taste of the maker, or
1 Pharaoh ' put a frold chain about ■* Theophrastus says, ' The Egyptian
(Joseph's) neck' (Gen. \li. 42), and 'a ointment was not very strongly scented.'
rini; upon Joseph's hand.' Woodcut No. 5 Atlienseus says the revenues of An-
AAQ,Jig. M. thylla were given to the queens of Egypt
2 Woodcut No. 449, ^/fg's. B, I a. for tlie purchase of ointments, another
3~ It has the same name in Hebrew. term for pin-money (lib. i. 25. Corn. Nop.
[Called by the Egyptians stem (the Latin in Vita Agesllai, and Juv. Sat. xv. 50).
stibium) or ?iuste?)i ; one kind was called 6 This agrees with the Aa^awow of Theo-
■wai, green or bluish green, anil was applied phrastus. (Plin. xiii. 1.)
to the lids. — S. B.
346 THE ANCIENT EGYPTIANS. [Chap. X.
the piiichasor. Julius Pollux^ mentions u ])lack kind made in
Egypt, and speaks of the sar/daa as an ointment of that country.
Theophrastus,- on the contrary, states that Egyptian ointments
were colorless; but we can readily account for this variance of
opinion by sup])osing that they had in view two different quali-
ties ; 3 which is further proved by the fact of our finding them
both preserved at Thebes. Ointment was freijuentl}^ kejjt m
alabaster'* bottles, or vases, whence these obtained, among the
Greeks, the name of alabastron, even if made of other materials ;
sometimes in those of the onyx^ or other stone, glass, ivory,
bone, or shells ; ^ specimens all of which have been discovered
in the tombs.
Strabo " says that the common people used the oil of the kikki,
or castor-berry, for anointing themselves, both men and women ;
the general purpose to which it was applied being for lamps ;
and many oils, as from the simsim,^ olive, almond, flax, x^elgam,
coleseed, seemya, lettuce, and other vegetable productions, were
extracted in Egypt.^
The custom of anointing the body is usual in hot climates,
and contributes greatly to comfort. Even the Greeks, Romans, ^'^
and others > whose limbs were mostly covered with clothes and
protected from the dryness of the air, found the advantage of its
use , and those whose skni was much exposed, in consequence of
their scanty clothing, as the Ethiopians and other inhabitants
of Africa, felt the necessity of softening and cooling the skin by
the application of oils or ointments ; and we find the custom
most prevalent among the blacks who wear the least covering to
their body. Their principal care is bestowed upon the hair of
the head, which they are not in the habit of shaving, except
some of the upper classes among the inhabitants of the large
towns ; and the highest ambition of the Ethiopians is to obtain a
sufficient ([uantity of grease, whatever kind it ma}' be, to cover
their head, and to run down upon the shoulders, so as to give
them a shining gloss, which they delight in displaying as they
walk in the sun.^'
1 J. Pollux, Onom. vi. 19. " Strabo. lib. xvH. p. 567. Herod, ii. 94.
2 Theophr. dc Odoiibus. Plin. xv. 7-
3 Plin. xiii. 3. Thuy adulterated their « Sesamuni orientale.
ointments. (Plin. xiii. 1.) '•* Plin. xiii. 1.
■• Matt. xvvi. 7: 'An alabaster box of i" Ennius tells us that, even in the lime
very precious ointment.' of Tavquin, tlicy had this cu^^tom. Pliny
5 Conf. Hor. iv. ()d. xi. 17. doul)ts when it was introduceil at Uome
e Ilor. ii. Od. v. 2;i. (xiii. 3).
11 Vir<r. .En. v. V.\h.
CUAP. X.]
COMBS.
347
The Egyptian combs were usually of wood, and double, one
side having large, the other small teeth ; the centre part was
frequently ornamented with carved work, and perhaps inlaid.
They were about four inches long and six deep ; and those with
a single row of teeth were sometimes surmounted with the figure
of an ibex or other animal.^
No. 450.
Combs found ,it Thebes.
1. Comb, with the ceiiti-e part ornamented.
3. Side view of Jifi. 2.
4. An ibex, supposed to have formed ' " 8 top of a comb.
The custom of staining the eyelids and brows with a moistened
powder of a black color was common in Egypt from the earliest
times ; it was also introduced among the Jcavs and Romans, and
is retained in the East to the present day. It is thought to
increase the beauty of the eye, which is made to appear larger
by this external addition of a black ring ; and many even sup-
pose the stimulus its application gives to be beneficial to the
sight. It is made in various ways. Some use antimony, black
oxide of manganese, preparations of lead, and other mineral
substances ; others the powder or the lamp-black of burnt
almonds or frankincense ; and many prefer a mixture of different
ingredients.
Lane" is perfectly correct in stating that the expression
* painted her face,' which Jezebel is said to have done when Jehu
1 These combs appear to be of a late
period, and always made of wood. The_y
jire found in tlie Gr?eco-E^ yptian mummies.
No representation or allusion to combing'
tlie hair is seen or mentioned at the
Pharaonic period. — S. B.
- ' Modern Egyptians,' vol. i. p. 43.
348
THE ANCIENT EGYPTIANS.
O'hap. X.
came to Jezreel, is, in the Hebrew, 'painted her eyes ; ' ^ the same
is again mentioned in Jeremiah and Ezekiel ; ^ and the length-
ened form of the ancient Egyptian eye, represented in the
paintings, was probably produced, as Lane supposes, by this
means. Such is the effect described by Juvenal,^ Pliny ,^ and
other writers who notice the custom among tlie Romans. At
Rome it was ct)nsidered disgraceful for men to adopt it, as at
No. 451.
Boxes, or bottles, for holding the kohl, for staining the eyelids.
1. In the British Museum, c is the bodkin for applying the stem or stibium. The others
are in the Museum of Alnwick Castle. [Fii/s. 5 and 7 are inscribed with the name of it8
possessor, ' Kams, priest, eldest royal son of Amen,' a very unusual title. — S. B.]
present in the East, except medicinally ; but if we may judge
from the similarity of the eyes of men and women in the paint-
ings at Thebes, it appears to have been used by both sexes
among the ancient Egyptians.
Many of these kohl bottles have been found in the tombs,
together with the bodkin used for applying the moistened powder.
1 2 KinfTS ix. 40. In our translation,
' She painted her face, and tired her head,
and looked out at a window.' In tlie
niarjiin, ' put her eyes in painting.'
■■^ Ezek. xxiii. 40: ' For whom tiiou didst
wash thyself, paintcdst thine eyes, and
deekedst thyself with ornaments.' In
Jeremiah (iv. 30) it is ' e3-es' in Hebrew.
3 ,Juv. Sat. ii. 93.
* Plin. Ep. vi. 2.
Chap. X.]
PINS AND NEEDLES.
349
They are of various materials, usually stone, wood, or pottery,
sometimes composed of two, sometimes of four and five separate
cells, apparently containing each a mixture, differing slightly in
its quality and hue from the other three. Many were simple
round tubes, vases, or small boxes ; some were ornamented with
the figure of an ape, or monster, supposed to assist in holding
the bottle between his arms, while the lady dipped into it the
pin, with which she painted her eyes ; and others were in imita-
tion of a column made of stone, or rich porcelain of the choicest
manufacture.^
Pins and needles were also among the articles of the toilet
which have been occasionally found in the tombs. The former
No. 452. Needles, pins, and earrings.
1,2. Bronze needles in the Museum of Alnwick Castle, 3 and 3A Inches long. 3. Large
gold-headed pin, in the Berlin Col iction. 4. Ajiother, of smaller size. 5. Silver earring, in
my possession, one and four-tenths of an inch in diameter. G. Gold earring in the Berlin
Museum, one and one-third of an inch in diameter. 7. Another, seen from above.
are frequently of considerable length, with large gold heads ;
and some of a different form, tapering gradually to a point,
merely bound with gold at the upper end, without any projecting
head, seven or eight inches in length, appear to have been
intended for arranging the plaits or curls of haii, like those used
in England in the days of Elizabeth for nearly the same purpose.
Some needles were of bronze, from three to three and a half
inches in length ; but as few have been found, we are not able
to forn] any opinion respecting their general size and quality.
1 The little boxes and cases for holdinoj the siaht ; ' 'to stop bleeding';' 'best
stibium had occasionally inscriptions on stibium,' ' to cause tears.' (Pierret, ' Diet,
them describini;- the use of the cosmetic : d'Areh. ^gypt' p. 139.) — S. B.
as, ' to lay on the lids or lashes ; ' ' p^ood for
350
THE ANCIENT EGYPTIANS.
[Chap. X.
pai'ticulaiiy of those used for fine work, wliicli iiiust have been
of a very minute kind.
One of the principal objects of tlie toilet was the mirror. It
was of mixed metal, cdiiefiy copper, most carefully wrought and
higlil}- polished ; and so admirably did the skill of the Egyptiaiis
succeed in the composition of metals, tliat this sul)stitute for our
nnxlern looking-glass was susce})tible of a lustre which has even
been partially revived at the present day, in some of those dis-
covered at Thebes, though buried in the earth for many centuries.
The mirrv)r itself was nearly round, inserted into a handle
of wood, stone, or metal, whose form varied according to the
No. 453. Metal mirrors. i British Museum.
1. Bronze mirror, handle in shape of a papyrus sceptre. 2. Do., liandle in shape of lotus
cohimn. From ;i painting at Thebes. 3. Handle in shape of a tress of hair and two hawk
standards. 4. Handle inshape of a papyrus sceptre and head of the goddess Athor ; ahont 11
inches high.
taste of the owner. Some presented the figure of a female, a
flower, a (Column, or a rod ornaniented \\itli the head of Atlior, a
bird, or a fancy device ; and sometimes the face of the deity Bes
was introduced to sujij^ort the mirror, serving as a contrast to the
features whose beauty was displayed within it.- The same kind
of metal mirror was- used by the Israelites, who doubtless brought
1 [Conf. with the metal mirrors on stiuuls
of theCliincse. — (t. W.]
- Tlie mirrors of tlio Ejryptian period
have oval or oblate disks, with soikes to
insert into the handles. It is not till the
Koman period that the disks became cir-
cular. They arc always made of a kind of
bronze. No brass has been I'ound in
Egfvpt. The mirror was called maa her,
'see face,' or iin her, 'show face' In
order to retain its polish when not in use,
It had a leatlior case, in which it was kept.
The handle of the mirror, and sometimes
the mirror itself, were inscribed with the
name oi the possessor. — !s. B.
Chap. X.]
MIKKOKS. — WALKING-STICKS.
351
them from Egypt ; and the brazen laver made by Moses for the
tabernacle was composed ^ of the looking-ghisses of the women,
which assembled at the door of the tabernacle of the congre-
gation.' ^
^ fnn^'rrrimiT^IT^irm^
other metal mirrors.
Xo. 454. — Fiq. 1. in Mr. Salt's Collection ;
witli a wooden haniUe, ornamented with the
goddess Neneb. Fiif. li, in the Museum of
Alnwick Castle ; handle in shape of the
goddess Anucis.
No. 455. —in the possession of Dr. Hogg.
F'tga. % and 3 show the bottom of the han-
dle, to which something has been fastened.
No. 456. Walking-sticks found at Thebes.
2 is of cherry-wood, in the British Museum. 3 shows the peg at the side.
When walking from home, Egyptian gentlemen ireqnently
carried sticks, varying from three or four to about six feet in
length, some of which were surmounted with a knob, imitating a
1 Exod. xxxviii. 8 ; 'He made tlic hivcr
of brass, and the foot of it of brass, of the
lookinfj-jrlasses of the women assemhlinff.'
The word iirass, nahas, is used in Hcbi-ew,
as in Arabic [like the farass of Southern
Spain, which is evidently a Moorish word
— G. W.] , to denote copper in any form.
or with auv alloy. The ' lookins-g.la.ss ' or
mirror is, in Hebrew and Arabic, mirdth,
or mirdh [or marraeh. In Job xxxvii. 18
a mirror is called rai. — (i. W.]. The
roots of these two words, and probably of
the Coptic, are related.
352
THE ANCIENT EGYPTIANS.
[Chap. X
flower,^ and others with the more usual j)eg projecting from one
side,^ some of which have been found at Thebes. One in the pos-
session of Mr. Salt, of the latter form, was of cherry ^ wood, and
only three feet three inches long ; and those I have seen with
the lotus head were generally about the same length. Others
appear to have been much longer ; the sculptures represent them
at least six feet ; and one brought to England by Madox was
about five feet in length. On entering a house, they left their
stick in the hall or at the door ; and poor men were sometimes
employed to hold the sticks of the guests who had come to a
Priests and other persons of rank walking with sticks.
Thebes,
party on foot,^ being rewarded by the master of the house for
their trouble with a trifling compensation, with their dinner, or
a piece of meat to carry to their family. The name of each
person was frequently written on his stick ^ in hieroglyphics
(instances of which I have seen in those found at Thebes) ; for
which reason a hard wood was preferred, as the acacia, which
seems to have been more generally used tlian any other.''
We have little knowledge of the nature of their baths ; br.t
as they were forbidden in deep mourning to indulge in them,"
1 Woodcut No 457, fg-'^, luid No. 4r)6,
fiq. 1.
" ' ••! Woodcut No. 457, fig- 2, and No. 456,
fiq. 2.
3 Accordinsr to Pliny (xv. 25), this tree
was introduced into Italy hy LncuUus,
from i*ontns, and thus went to Hritain.
lie says it would not grow in E<:ypt, and it
is notnow found there ; but is not a species
imliqenons in the north of our island ?
••■piatc XI.,/<7. 10.
5 Numb. xvii. 2: 'Write thou every
man's name upon his rod.'
c The inscriptions on sticks have not
only the names of the possessors, but also
addresses to the stick itself as the support
of their old aije. Besides the lonj;: walkinji-
stick, a short stick, called hatana, used for
the bastinado, was also used by the Ef;yp-
tians. Many of the walkinjr-sticks had a
licad in shape of a papyrus flower. — S. B.
' Diod. i. 72.
Chap. X.l
THE BATH.
353
we may conclude they were considered as a luxury, as well as a
necessary comfort. The only instance I have met with in the
paintings is in a tomb at Thebes, where a lady is represented
with four attendants, who wait upon her, and perform various
duties. One removes the jewelry and clothes she has taken
off, or suspends them to a stand in the apartment ; another pours
water from a vase over her head, as the third rubs her arms and
body with her open hands; and a fourth, seated near her, holds
a sweet-scented flower to her nose, and sujjports her as she sits.
354 i'HE ANCIENT EGYPTIANS. [Chap. X.
The same subject is treated nearly in the same manner on some
of the Greek vases, the water being poured over the bather, who
kneels, or is seated on the ground. Warm ^ as well as cold baths
were used by the Egyptians, though for ordinary ablutions cold
water was preferred ; and both were probably reconnnended and
taken medicinally when occasion required.
The Eg\'ptians paid great attention to health, and 'so wisel}^'
says Herodotus,"^ ' was medicine managed by them, that no doctor
was permitted to practise any but his own peculiar branch.
Some were oculists, wlio only studied diseases of the eye ; others
attended solely to complaints of the head ; others to those of
the teeth ; some again confined themselves to com})laints of the
intestines, and others to secret and internal maladies ; accou-
clieurs being usually, if not always, women.^ 'i'liey received
certain salaries from the public treasury ; and after they had
studied those precepts which had been laid down from the expe-
rience of their predecessors, they were permitted to practise ;
and in order to ensure their attention to the prescribed rules,
and to prevent dangerous experiments being made upon patients,
they were puinshed if their treatment was contrary to the estab-
lished system ; and the death of a person entrusted to their
care, under such circumstances, was adjudged to them as a capital
offence.^ If, however, every remedy had been administered
according to the sanitary law, they were absolved from blame ;**
and 'these provisions,' says Diodorus, 'were made with the per-
suasion that few persons could be capable of introducing any
new treatment superior to what had been sanctioned and ap-
proved by the skill of old practitioners.'
Though paid by government as a body, it was not illegal to
receive fees for their advice and attendance ; and demands could
be made in every instance, except on a foreign journey and on
military service, when patients were visited free of expense."
The principal mode adopted by the Egyptians for preventing
illness was attention to regimen and diet ; ' being persuaded that
the majority of diseases [)roceed from indigestion and excess of
eating; ' and they'had frequent recourse to abstinence, emetics,
slight doses of medicine, and other simple means of relieving the
1 Diodorus {i.<S4) says they were even 5 Pliny (xxix. 1) observes, there is no
kept for tlie sacred animals. law to punish their ijfnorance at Rome,
■■2 Herodot. ii. 37. ' and that a physician is tlie only man who
8 Ibid. ii. S4. can kill another with impunity.
* As at present in Egypt. Exod. i. 15. ^ Diod. i. 82. ' Ihid.
CiiAP. X.] PHYSICIANS. 355
system/ which some persons were in the liabit of repeating every
two or three days. ' Those who live in tlie corn country,' as
Herodotus terms it,^ were particular for their attention to health.
•■During three successive days, every month, they submitted to a
regular course of medicine;' from the conviction that illness
was wont to proceed from some irregularity in diet: and if
preventives were ineffectual, they had recourse to suitaljle
remedies, adopting a mode of treatment very similar to that
mentioned by Diodorus. The employment of numerous drugs
in Egypt has been mentioned by sacred and profane writers ;
and the medicinal properties of many herbs which grow in the
deserts, particularly between the Nile and Red Sea, are still
known to the Arabs, though their application has been but
imperfectly recorded and preserved. ^ O virgin, daughter of
Egypt,' says Jeremiah,^ 'in vain slialt thou use many medicines,
for thou shalt not be cured.' Homer, in the Odyssey,'* describes
the many valuable medicines given by Polydamna, the wife of
Thonis, to Helen, while in Egypt, 'a country whose fertile soil
produces an infinity of drugs, some salutary and some perni-
cious, where each physician possesses knowledge above all other
men ; ' and Pliny makes frequent mention of the productions
of that country, and their use in medicine.
He also notices the physicians of Egypt ; ^ and as if their
number*^ was indicative of the many nuiladies to which the
inhabitants were subject, he observes that it was a country pro-
ductive of numerous diseases. In this, however, he does not
agree witli Herodotus," who affirms tliat 'after the Libyans,
there are no people so healthy as the Egyptians, which may be at-
tributed to the invariable nature of the seasons in their country.' ^
1 Diod. i. 82. of Usaphiiis of the 1st Dsnasty, was com-
2 Herodot. ii. 77. pleted by Senet or Setlienes of the second
3 Jerem. Ixvi. 11. line. The third, that of the British Museum,
"t Homer, Od. A, 229. contains a receipt said to have been niys-
5 Plin. xxvi. 1. tenously discovered in the reign of Cheops
6 Herodotus says, ' Everj- place is full of the 4th Dynasty. A fourth, of Leyden,
of doctors,' in Eo^ypt (ii. 84)." as well as another in the possession oi" Mr.
" Herodot. i. 77. Edwin Smith, is not assisted to any age.
*> The science of medicine was one of Tlieir anatomical doctrine was erroneous,
the earliest discoveries of Egypt. Athothes, and referred the actujn of the blood and
the successor of Menes of the 1st Dynastv, the nervous power to thirty-two vessels in
is said to have written on tlie subject, and the head. The maladies of which they
five, papyri on the subject liave suiwived. treat are various, and amongst others
They are of the period of the ISth and 19th obstetric cases, and tlie diagnosis is by no
dynasties. One known as the Papyrus means wrong. The curatives in use were
Ebers, from its discoverer, is attrilnited to ointments, drinks, plasters, fumigations,
the age of Kherpheres or Bikheres. The and clysters, and the drugs employeti were
second, that of Berlin, found in the reign taken from vegetables, minerals, and aui-
356 THE ANCIENT EGYPTIANS. [Chap. X.
Ill Pliny's time the iiitroductioii of luxurious habits and excess
liad pr()l)al)ly wrought a change in the people ; and to the same
cause may be attributed the numerous complaints among the
Romans, '•unknown to their fathers and ancestors.'^
'J'he same author tells us that the Egyptians examined the
bodies after death, to ascertain the nature of the diseases of
which they had died ; ^ and we can readily believe that a people
so far advanced in civilization and the principles of medicine as
to assign each physician his peculiar branch, would have resorted
to this effectual method of acquiring knowledge and experience
for the benefit of the community.
It is evident that the medical skill of the Egyptians was well
known even in foreign and distant countries ; and we learn
from Herodotus 3 that Cyrus and Darius both sent to Egj'pt for
medical men.
Diodorus tells us* that dreams were regarded in Egypt with
religious reverence, and the prayers of the devout were often
rewarded by the gods with an indication of the remedies their
sufferings required; but this and magic ^ were only a last
resource when the skill of the physician had been baftied, and
all hopes of their recovery were lost ; and a similar supersti-
tious feeling induced them to offer exvotos in their temples for
the same purpose.*^ [Origen says, when any part of the body
was affected by disease, they invoked the demon to whom it
was supposed to belong to obtain a cure. — G. W.]
They consisted of various kinds. Some persons promised a
certain sum for the maintenance of the sacred animals belonging
to the deity whose interposition they solicited ; which, in the
case of children, was decided by weighing a certain portion of
the hair of their head, 'either all, or half, or a third,"' sliaved
nials. Those for each draucrht were mixed practised for the purposes of embalmiujx.
tojrether, pounded, boiled, and strained (Maspero, ' Histoire ancicnne,' p. 81.
throiijrh linen. Pure water was used to Picrret, ' Diet. d'Ant. Ejrypt.,' p. 329,
combine them lieuerally, but beer, wine, where the various sources of information
oil, and milk were also employed. The will be found.) — S. B.
drauj^hts were sweetened with honey and i Plin xwi. 1. 2 Hiid. xix. 5.
taken hot mornin<r and eveninjr. iSIany 3 Heroilot. iii. 1 and 132.
maladies were attributed to the possession •> Diodorus' account of learnin<? remedies
of an evil spirit, who was exorcised by the from dreams is not ([uite consistent with
I'liysician. The doctors belonjied to the col- the positive observations they took so much
\cixc o^ hierof/rammateis, or sucved scribes, care to make. The advocates for animal
as appears by one of that order beinj; sent ma,«,nietism may perhaps see it in this
to cure the Princess of Bakhtan in the passajre of the historian. (Diodor. i. 25.)
rei<rn of I^ameses XII. Alto^rether medi- ^ Wisdom of .Solomon, xvii. 8.
cine amonu'st the Ejryptians was pure ^ [Clemens, apud Origen, lib. viii. p. 41,
jmpincism, and anatomy not understood, edit. (Cantab. — Ct. W.]
notwithstandinsT the constant dissection " Ilerodot. ii. 65.
Chap. X.] PHYSICIANS. 357
expressly for the purpose ; and as soon as the cure bad been
effected, tbey acconipHsbed tbeir vow by giving an equal weigbt
of silver to the curators.
These persons occasionally visited different parts of the country,
carrving Avith them the banners of their respective deities ; and
the credulity of the peasants being frequently induced to solicit
their aid, and to barter the doubtful assistance of the god for the
real rewards lavished on his artful servants, mucli money was
collected by them. And so profitable was^it, thiit neither the
change of religion, nor the simplicity of Islam, have been able
to discard the custom ; and the guardians of the sheikh's tombs,
in like manner, send their emissaries with flags and drums to
different parts of the country to lev}^ contributions from the
credulous in return for the promised assistance of their wellee^
or patron saint.
} ■>, 3 4
Xo. 459. Barbers. Above, hnq, ' to shave.' Benl-Hassan.
After the cure was effected, they frequently suspended a
model of the restored part in the temple of the god whose inter-
position they had invoked ; precisely in the same manner as in
the sheikhs' tombs of modern Egypt, and in the Roman Catholic
chapels of Italy and other countries, consecrated to the Virgin
or to a saint ; and ears, eyes, distorted arms, and other members,
were dedicated as memorials of their gratitude and superstition.
Sometimes travellers who happened to pass by a temple in-
scribed a votive sentence on the Avails to indicate their respect
for the deity, and solicit his protection during their journey ;
the complete formula of which contained the adoration (^pros-
Jcunema) of the writer, with the assurance that he had been
mindful of his wife, his family, and his friends ; and the reader
of the inscription was sometimes included in a share of the bless-
358
THE ANCIENT EGYPTIANS.
[Chap. X.
ings it solicited. The date of the king's reign, and the day of
the month, were also added, with the profession and parentage
of the writer. The complete formula of the proskunema w^as as
follows : ' The adoration of Caius Capitolinus, son of Flavins
Julius, of the fifth troop of Theban horse, to the goddess Isis,
with ten thousand names. And I have been mindful of (or have
made an adoration for) all those who love me, and my consort,
and children, and all my household, and for him who reads this.
In the year 12 of the Emperor Tiberius Csesar, the 15th of Paiini.'
LV3 O
No. 460.
Exvotos.
1. Ivory hand, supposed Castanet, British ^Museum. 2. Stone tablet, dedicated to
Amen-ra. for the recovery of a complaint in the ear, for a scribe named Amenhetp (^Ameno-
phis) : found at Thebes. 3. An ear of terra-cotta in my possession, from Thebes.
The Egyptians, according to Pliny,^ claimed the honor of
having invented the art of curing diseases. Indeed the study of
medicine and surgery appears to have commenced at a very early
period in Egypt, since Athothes, the second king of the country,
is stated to have written upon the subject of anatomy, and the
schools of Alexandria 2 continued till a late period to enjoy the
reputation and display the skill they had inherited from their
predecessors. Hermes ^ was said to have written six books on
medicine, the first of which related to anatomy ; ■* and the various
recipes known to have been beneficial were recorded, with their
peculiar cases, in the memoirs of physic, inscribed among the
laws already alluded to, which were deposited in the principal
temple of the place, as at Memphis in that of Ptah, or Vulcan.
1 Plin. vii. 56.
* [Ammian. Marcellinus (i. 16) says, for
a doctor to reoommenil his skill, it was
sufficient to sav that he had studied at
Alexandria. — G. W.]
3 Hermes and Athothes may have been
confounded, or they may be in this instance
the same person. The god Hermes, or
Thoth, fjeneralh' implied intellect.
^ Clem. .Mex". Strom, vi.
Chap. X.]
EMBALMEKS.
359
The embalraers were probabyl members of the medical pro-
fession, since the knowledge required for that purpose appears
to be connected with their peculiar studies ; and the Bible
expressly states that ' the physicians ^ embalmed ' Jacob. This
part, however, belongs more properly to the funeral ceremonies
of the Egyptians, into which I do not here enter ; reserving that
portion of my subject to future chapters, whose less contracted
dimensions will enable me to introduce the illustrations con-
nected with it on a more suitable scale: I have also taken
advantage of the opportunity there afforded of entering more
fully into the mythology of the Egyptians, and the ceremonies
connected with their religion.^
' Gen. 1. 2.
2 See vol. iii.
No. 461.
Sarcophagus with the goddess Nut on the breast.
No. 462.
TOPOGKAJ'UICAL PLAN OK Tllli PVKA.Mll
I)S OK GiZKll.
A. P^ntrance to the Great Pyramid.
B. Kntrauce to the Second Pyramid.
CC. Long pits, by some supxjosed for mi.xing
the mortar.
I). Pyramid of tlie daughter of Cheops
(Herodotus ii. 12(!|.
E. Pavement of bhick stones (basaltic trap\
the same as found on the causeways
of tho ))yraiiii(ls of SaqqAra.
F. Remains of masonry.
G. Uound en<'l<isuri;'S of crudebrick, of Arab
date, at X.K. angle of tliis pyrannd.
H. Tombs of individuals, witli deep pits.
I. The tomb of numbers.
K. Two inclined |]assag<'S. meeting und(M--
ground. .ap[)an'nt ly once lu'longing li>
asmall pyramid that stood over them.
LL. The rock is here cut to a level surface.
M. A narrow and shallow trench cut in the
rock.
N. A S(|uare sjiai^e cut in the rock, probably
to rci'iivcand support the corner stone
of till' casing of llie pyramid.
P. Here stood a tomb which had received
tlie title of the Temple of Osiris.
Q. Tomb of trades, to west of Tombs H.
R. .\ pit cased with stone, of modern date.
S. The Tliird Pyrannd.
T. Tlirec small pyramids.
U,V. Ruined buililings, whose original use
it is now difficult to determine.
W VV W. Fragments of stone, arranged in the
manner of a wall.
X. A few palms and sycamores, with a well.
Y. Southern stone causeway.
Z. Northern causev.ay, repaired by the
Caliphs.
a. Tombs cut in the rock.
b. Slasonry.
c. Black stones.
(I, il. Tombs cut in the rock.
('. The sphinx.
./'. Pits, probably unopened.
g. Pits.
il. Stone ruin on a rock.
(. Doorway, or passage, through the cause-
way.
A'. A grotto in the rock.
/. Inclined causeway, part of Y.
7/1,11. Tondis in the rock.
o. Some hieroglyphics on the rock.
p. Tombs cut in the scarp of the rock.
q. Stone wall.
r. Stejis cut in the rock, near the N. AV.
angli^ of the tireat Pyramid.
,s-, /. .Magnetic south, in 1832 and ls36, corre-
sponding to .M X; T N being 'true
north."
The names I and 2 are of king Ergainenes,
inentiiuied by Diodorus (lib. iii. s. 6),
and another Ethiopian luonarch,
found at 1 )akkeh.
«tet n.„.,
Vignette K. - Machine used as a harrow after the laud is ploughed. Heliojiolis — Cairo
iu the distance.
CHAPTER XI.
Richness of Eofypt — An ao^riciiltural and raanufactiuincr Country — Origin of Mensura-
tion and Geometry — Astronomical Calculations connected with the Rise of the Nile
— Year of 365 Days — Sothic Year of 365i Days —Flocks — Sheep kept for their
Wool — Former Advantages of Ejrypt in Manufactures — Abundance of Produce ^
T.and Measures — Weights — Irrigation — The Inundation — Mode of cultivating the
Land — Plough — Hoe — Swine and Cattle to tread in the Seed — Sowing— Soil of
Egypt — The Nile, its Branches — Dressing of Lands — Different Crops — Cultivation
of Wheat, gathering the Corn, and threshing — Inundation —Ditferent Levels of
Egypt — Edge of Desert cultivated — Harvest Home and other Festivals of the
Peasants —Care of Animals — Veterinary Art — Eggs hatched by artificial Means.
In a country like Egypt, whose principal riches consist in tlie
fruittulness of its soil, it is reasonable to suppose that agricul-
ture was always one of the principal cares of the inhabitants,
and a subject to which their attention was directed at the
earliest period of their existence as a nation.
The richness of the valley of the Nile was proverbial ; and
this had no doubt induced the conquering tribe, who, as already
observed, were the ancestors of the afterwards powerful Egyp-
tians, to migrate from Asia and settle in that fertile country ;
and the same continued to be an inducement to other people in
later times to invade and possess themselves of Egypt. The
pastor race, called Hyksos or Shepherd Kings, appear to have
been the first to follow the example of the early Asiatic inva-
ders ; and though the period and history of their conquest are
involved in obscurity, it is evident that they entered Egypt
from the side of Syria, and that they obtained for some years a
lirm footing in the country, possessing themselves of Lower
Egypt, with a portion of the Thebaid, and perhaps advancing to
361
362 THE ANCIES'T EGYPTIANS. [Chai-. XI.
Thebes itself. I at first supposed them to have come from
Assyria : but on more mature consideration have been disposed, as
already stated, to consider them a Sc^'thiau tribe.^ whose numad
habits accord more satisfactorily with the character of a pastoral
race, and whose frequent inroads at early periods into other
countries show the power they possessed as well as their love of
invasion, which were continued till a late time, and afterwards
imitated by their successors, the Tartar hordes of Central Asia.
This ini'oad of the Shepherds was followed, after a long inter-
val, by the successive occupations of Egypt by the Persians, the
Macedonians, and the Romans : and Egypt, after having passed
under the dominion of the Arabs and at lengfth of the Turks,
still continues, in spite even of the injuries it has received from
the misrule of these last, to be coveted for the richness and
capabilities of its productive soil.
It is an old and true remark, that the inhabitants of a rich
country are ever exposed to the agressions of powerful neigh-
bors whose soil is less productive, whilst the destiny of these
last is rather to be conquerors than conquered : and this has
been fully proved by experience and the history of the world.
We are. therefore, more surprised at the great duration of the
power of Egypt, which, to calculate only from the reign of
Usertesen to the Persian conquest, continued without interrup-
tion through a period of twelve hundred years. So remarkable a
circumstance can only be attributed to the rigid discipline of
the Egypitian constitution and the stern regulations of the
jjriesthood. which, by scrupulously watching over the actions of
the monarch, and obliging him to conform to certain rules estab-
lished for his conduct both in public and in private, prevented
the demoralizing effect of luxurious habits, with the baneful
example of a corrupt court, and. by a similar attention to the
conduct of all classes, exercised a salutary- influence over the
whole community. And the successful promotion of industry,
the skill of their artisans, and the efficiency of their army, were
owing to the same well-ordered system.
Particular attention was always given to the agricultural
classes: grain was looked upon as the staple commodity of the
Egyptian market, and the memorial of this was maintained to a
late time, after Egypt had attained an unrivalled celebrity as a
• Recent discoveries show them to have been of Semitic and not Tartar oriarin. Pleyte,
' Culte du Dien Set.' — S- B.
Chap XL] AGRICULTURE. 363
manufacturing country, in some of the religious ceremonies,
and, above all, at the festival of the coronation. Such, indeed,
was the respect paid in Egypt to the pursuits of husbandry
that the soldiers, a class inferior only to the priesthood, and
from which alone the king, when not of the priestly order,
could be chosen, were permitted and even encouraged to occupy
their leisure time in the tillage of the lands allotted them by
Government ; and every priest and noble of the country was
expected to use his utmost endeavors to encourage the industry
of the agricultural population.
Of the three states of society — ^he hunter, the shepherd,
and the agrriculturist — the last, as has been alreadv observed,
is the most capable of arriving at and advancing in civiliza-
tion ; and those countries where agriculture is successfully
encouraged speedily rise to opulence and power. To this was
Egypt indebted for its immense resources, which, even from so
confined a valley, maintained a population of 7,000.000, supplied
several neighboring countries with corn, supported an army of
410.000 men besides auxiliaries, extended its conquests into the
heart of Asia, and exercised for ages great moral influence
throughout a large portion of Asia and Africa.
In the infancy of her existence as a nation. Egypt was con-
tented with the pursuits of agriculture ; but in process of time
the advancement of civilization :^.nd refinement led to numerous
inventions, and to improvements in the ordinary necessaries of
life, and she became at length the first of nations in manufactures,
and famed amongst foreigners for the excellence of her fine linen,
her cotton and woollen stuffs, cabinet-work, porcelain, glass, and
numerous branches of industry. That Egypt should be more
known abroad for her manufactures than for her agricultural
skill might be reasonably expected, in consequence of the ex-
portation of those commodities in which she excelled, and the
ignorance of foreigners respecting the internal condition of a
country from which they were excluded by the jealousy of the
natives ; though, judging from the scanty information imparted
to us by the Greeks, who in later times had opportunities of
examining the valley of the Nile, it appears that we have as
much reason to blame the indifference of strangers who \4sited
the country as the exclusiveness of the Eg^-ptians. The Greeks,
however, confessed the early advancement of the Egyptians in
agricultural as well as mechanical pui'suits : and Diodorus is
evidently of opinion that, with colonization, the knowledge of
364 i'lIE ANCIENT EGYPTIANS. [Cuap. XL
husbandry and various institutions were carried from Eg3'pt
into Greece.^
There are fortunately other sources of iufonnation, wliich
explain their mode of tilling the land, collecting the harvest,
and various peculiarities of their agriculture : and, indepeiident
of what may be gleaned from Herodotus and Diodorus, numerous
agricultural scenes, in the tombs of Tliebes and Lower Egypt,
give full and amusing representatioDS of the process of plough-
ing, hoeing, sowing, reaping, threshing, winnt)wiiig, and hcnising
the grain. In considering the state of agriculture in Egypt,
we do not confine its importance to the direct and tangible
benefits it annually conferred upon the people, by the improved
condition of the productions of the soil; the influence it had
on the manners and scientific acquirements of the people is no
less obvious and worthy our contemplation : and to the peculiar
nature of the Nile, and the effects of its inundation, has been
reasonably attributed the early advancement of the Egyptians
in geometry and mensuration. Herodotus, Plato, Diodorus,^
Strabo,^ Clemens of Alexandria,^ lamblichus, and others, as-
cribe the origin of geometry to changes which annually took
place from the inundation, and to the consequent necessity of
adjusting the claims of each person respecting the limits of the
lands ; and, though Herodotus may be wrong in limiting the
commencement of those observations to the reign of Sesostris,
his remark tends to the same point, and confirms the general
opinion that this science had its origin in Egypt.
It is reasonable to suppose, that, as the inundation sub-
sided, much litigation sometimes occurred between neighbors
respecting the limits of their unenclosed fields ; and the fall of a
portion of the bank, carried away by the stream during the rise
of the Nile, frequently made great alterations in the extent of
land near the river-side. We therefore readily perceive the
necessity of determining the quantity which belonged to each
individual, whether to settle disputes with a neighbor, or to
ascertain the tax due to government.^ But it is difficult to fix the
period when the science of mensuration commenced : if we have
ample proofs of its being known in the time of Joseph, this does
not carry us far back into the ancient history of Eg3^pt; and
there is evidence of geometry and mathematics having already
» Diodor. i. s. 20, 23, 28, 96, &c., and v. 58. 2 ibid. i. 81.
8 Strabo, xvii. p. 542. ■• Clem. Strom, i. p. 20. 5 lierodot. ii. 109.
n.iAP. xr.] IRRIGATION. 365
made the same progress at the earliest period of which any
monuments remain, as in the later era of the patriarch, or of
the great Rameses.
Besides the mere measurement of superficial areas, it was of
paramount importance to agriculture, and to the interests of
the peasant, to distribute the benefits of the inundation in due
proportion to each individual, that the lands which were low
might not enjoy the exclusive advantages of the fertilizing
water, by constantly draining it from those of a higher level.
For this purpose, the necessity of ascertaining the various ele-
vations of the country, and of constructing accurately-levelled
canals and dykes, obviously occurred to them ; and if it be true
that Menes, their first king, turned the course of the Nile into
a new channel he had made for it, we have a proof of their
having, long before his time, arrived at considerable knowledge
in this branch of science, since so great an undertaking could
only have been the result of long experience.
These dykes were succeeded or accompanied by the invention
of sluices, and all the mechanism appertaining to them. The
regulation of the supply of water admitted into plains of various
levels, the report of the exact quantity of land irrigated, the
depth of the water and the time it continued upon the surface,
which determined the proportionate payment of the taxes,
required much scientific skill ; and the prices of provisions for
the ensuing year were already ascertained by the unerring
prognostics of the existing inundations. This naturally led to
minute observations respecting the increase of the Nile during
the inundation : Nilometers, for measuring its gradual rise or
fall, were constructed in various parts of Egypt, and particular
persons were appointed to observe each daily change, and to
proclaim the favorable or unfavorable stare of this im[)ortant
phenomenon. On these reports depended the time chosen for
opening the canals, whose mouths were closed until the river rose
to a fixed height, ^ upon which occasion grand festivities were
proclaimed throughout the country, in order that every person
might show his sense of the great benefit vouchsafed by the
gods to the land of Egypt. The introduction of the waters of
the Nile into the interior, by means of these canals, was allegori-
cally construed into the union of Osiris and Isis ; the instant of
cutting away the dam of earth which separated the bed of the
Pliny, lib. xviii. 18. The canals are now ^euerallv cut about the 10th of August.
366 THE ANCIEXT EGYPTIAXS. [CiiAv. XI.
canal from the Nile, was looked forward to with the utmost
anxiety ; and it is reasonable to suppose that many omens were
consulted in order to ascertain the auspicious moment for this
important ceremony.
Superstition added greatl}^ to the zeal of a credulous people.
The deity or presiding genius of the river was pro])itiated by
suitable oblations, both during the inundation and about the
period when it was ex[)ected ; and Seneca^ tells us, that on a
ivdvticnliiv fete the priests threw presents and offerings of gold
into the river near Philse, at a place called the Veins of the
Kile, where they first perceived the rise of the inundation.
Indeed, we may reasonably suppose that the grand and won-
derful spectacle of the inundation excited in them feelings of
the deei)est awe for the divine power to which they were
indebted for so great a blessing : and a plentiful supply of
water was supposed to be the result of the favor of the gods,
as a deficiency was attributed to their displeasure, punishing
the sins of an offending people.
On the inundation depended all the hopes of the peasant ; it
affected the revenue of the government, both b}^ its influence on
the scale of taxation, and by the greater or less jDrofits on the
exportation of grain and other produce ; and it involved the
comfort of all classes. For in Upper Egypt no rain fell to
irrigate the land; it was a country, as ancient writers ^ state,
which did not look for showers to advance its crops ; and if, as
Proclus ^ says, these fell in Lower Egypt, they were confined to
that district, and heavy rain was a prodigy in the Thebaid.
There is, however, evidence that heavy rain did occasional!}^ fall
in the vicinity of Thebes, from the appearance of the deep
ravines worn by water in the hills, about the tombs of the kings,
though probably, as now, after intervals of fifteen or twenty
years ; and it may be said from modern experience, that slight
showers fall there about five or six times a year, in Lower Egypt
much more frequently, and at Alexandria almost as often as in
the south of Euroj>e. The result of a favorable inundation was
not confined to tangible benefits ; it had the greatest effect on
the mind of every Egyptian by long anticii)ation ; the happiness
arising from it, as the regrets on the appearance of a scanty
supply of water, being far more sensibly felt than in countries
1 Seneca. Nat Qikvst. iv. 2, p. 886. - Mela, i. c. 9.
8 Proclus, in Tim lib. 1.
CuAP. Xl.l EARLY SCIENCE. 367
which depend on rain for their harvest, where future prospects
not being so soon foreseen, hope continues longer ; the Egyptian,
on the other hand, being able to form a just estimate of liis crops
even before the seed is sown, or the land prei)ared for its
reception.^
Other remarkable effects nuiy likewise be partially attributed
to the interest excited by the expectation of the rising Nile ;
and it is probable that the accurate observations required for
fixing the seasons, and the period of the annual return of the
inundation, which was found to coincide with the heliacal rising
of Sothis or the Dog-star, contributed greatly to the early study
of astronomy in the valley of the Nile. The precise time when
these and other calculations were first made by the Egyptians
it is impossible now to determine ; but from the height of the
inundation being already recorded in the reign of . Moeris,"^
we mav infer that constant observations had been made, and
Nilometers constructed, even before that early period ; and
astronom3%3 geometry, and other sciences are said to have been
known in Egypt in the time of the hierarchy which preceded
the accession of their first king, Menes.
We cannot, however, from the authority of Diodorus and
Olemens of Alexandria, venture to assert that the books of
Hermes which contained the science and philosophy of Egypt
were all composed before the reign of Menes ; the original work,
by whomsoever it was composed, was probably very limited and
imperfect, and the famous books of Hermes were doubtless com-
piled at different periods, in the same manner as the Jewish
collection of poems received under the name of David's Psalms,
though some were composed after the Babylonish captivity.
Nor was Hermes, or Mercury, as I have elsewhere observed, a
real personage, but a deified form of the divine intellect, which
being imparted to man had enabled him to produce this effort of
genius ; and the only argument to be adduced respecting the
high antiquity of any portion of this work is the tradition of the
people, supported by the positive proof of the great mathematical
skill of the Egyptians in the time of Menes, by the change he
made in the course of the Nile. It may also be inferred, from
their great advancement in arts and sciences at this early period,
that many ages of civilization had preceded the accession of their
first monarch.
> Seneca, QuEest. Nat. iv. 2. 2 Herodot. ii. 13.
3 Diodor. i. 16, and Clem. Alex. Strom. 0.
368 •HE ANCIENT EGYPTIANS. [Chap. XL
At all events, we may conclude that to agriculture and the
peculiar nature of the river, the accurate method adopted by the
Egyptians in the regulation of their year is to be attributed;
that by the return of the seasons, so decidedly marked in Egypt,
they were taught to correct those inaccuracies to which an
approximate calculation was at first subject; and that the
calendar, no longer suffered to depend on the vague length of a
solar revolution, was thus annually brought round to a fixed
period. It is highly probable that the Egyptians, in their in-
fancy as a nation, divided their year into twelve lunar months ; ^
the twenty-eight years of Osiris' reign being derived, as Plutarch
observes,^ from the number of days the moon takes to perform
her course round the earth ; and it is worthy of remark that the
hieroglyphic signifying •• month ' was represented by the crescent
of the moon,^ as is abundantly proved from the sculptures and
the authority of HorapoUo. From this we also derive another
very important conclusion ; that the use of hieroglyphics was of
a far more remote date than is generally supposed, since they
existed previously to the adoption of solar months. The substi-
tution of solar for lunar months was the earliest change in the
Egyptian year. It was then made to consist of twelve months
of thirty days each, making a total of 360 days : * but as it was
soon discovered that the seasons were disturbed, and no longer
corresponded to the same months, five additional days were intro-
duced at the end of the last month, Mesore,^ in order to remedy
the previous defect in the calendar, and to insure the returns of
the seasons to fixed periods.
The twelve months were Thoth, Paoj)i, Athor, Choeak, Tobi,
' The moon's revolution round the years, ov fet)'ae7-is : l)ut the inscriptions of
earth is evidently the orijiin of this (Hvision the time of Ranicses II. incline to a ^r/a-
of the year into months. The German konteris. The divi-iions of time were han
Monat sij,^nifies both 'moon' and 'month,' han, 'cycles,' perhaps Sothic, set, triakon-
from which our own worils are dei'ived ; teres ; renpa, ' years ; ' aah, ' moons,'
the Greek men and me/te, 'a month' and 'months;' ke?'u, 'days;* unnu, 'hours;'
'the moon,' tiie Latin tnensis, and tiie at, 'subdivision of hour;' ha, 'minutes;'
Sanscrit miis, ' month,' , twos or T/ifwa, a/?, ' winks' or ' second*.' — S. B.
'moon,' are from the same origin. (Plut. "' The 360 cups, filleil daily with milk at
Tim. p. 498; tran-;. Taylor.) the tomb of Osiris at Phila-, appear to show
2 Plut. de Isid. s. \i. that the j'car once consisted of 360 days.
3 There is also an evident cycle of thirty (Diodor. i. 22.)
years, called Set, the Triakoriteris of the ^ The day was divided into twelve and
Greeks, which appears as early as Phrops, the night into as many hours. The first
of the 6th Dynast}', and which continued hour of the day commenced with the dawn,
till the Ptolemies. A year called the ^et so that the hours could not originally have
of Phiops is also recorded on the inonu- been of equal length; at the Ptolemaic
meut-, but its meaning is difficult. Accord- period the hour was subdivided into
to Hrugscii, the set meant the cycle of four minutes and moments. (Lepsius, Einleit.)
Chap. XI.] CALENDAR. 369
Mechir, Piiamenoth, Pharmutlii, Pachons, Paoni, Epep, Mesor^ :
and the year being divided into three seasons,^ each period
comprised four of these months. The 1st of Thoth, in time of
Julius Csesar, fell on the 29th of August ; and Mesore, the last
month, began on the 25th of July.'^ I have introduced the
modern names given them by the Copts,^ who still use them in
preference to the lunar months of the Arabs ; and, indeed, the
Arabs themselves are frequently guided by the Coptic months
in matters relating to agriculture, particularly in Upper Egypt.
A people who gave any attention to subjects so important to
their agricultural pursuits, could not long remain ignorant of
the deficiency which even the intercalation of the five days left
in the adjustment of the calendar; and though it required a
j)eriod of 1460 years for the seasons to recede through all the
twelve months, and to prove by the deficiency of a whole year
the imperfection of this system, yet it would be obvious to them,
in the lapse of a very few years, that a perceptible alteration had
taken place in the relative positions of the seasons ; and the
most careless observation would show that in 120 years, having
lost a whole month, or thirty days, the rise of the Nile, the time
of sowing and reaping, and all the periodical occupations of the
peasant, no longer coincided with the same month. They there-
fore added a quarter day to remedy this defect, by making every
fourth year to consist of 366 days; which, though still subject
to a slight error, was a sufficiently accurate approximation : and,
indeed, some modern astronomers are of opinion that, instead of
exceeding the solar year, the length of the sidereal, computed
from one heliacal rising of the Dog-star to another, accorded
1 Each month was under the protection Epagomenae, or Intcrcnlar}- Days, viz. :
of a deity; these vary in t3'pe, according to 1. Birth of Osiris,
the representations of the ]SIemnoniura, in 2. Birth of Horns,
the reign of Rameses II., and at Edfu both 3. Buth of Set.
the names are the same. 4. Birth of Isis.
5. Birth of Nephthvs.
1. Thoth — goddess Te;)(;i. (Brngsch, ' Mat. du Cal.,' pp. 53-55. )— S. B.
2. Paopbi — Ptah. 2 Each day of the month was sacred to
3. Athyr — Hathor. a deity, and" had a festival, by which it
4. Choeaiv — Se;^et, or Kahak. could be cited instead of its numerical
5. Tybi — Ainsi, or Khem. order ; but it is probable that each mouth
6. Mechoir — Re;)(;-iir (Anubis). bad a sepai-ate series or nomenclature.
7. Pbamenoth — As;^net ( .\pheru). These were the eponymous dates : thus, the
8. Pharmuthi — Rannu (Harvest). 1st day was called the festival of the
9.- Pachons — Chous. Xcomeuia; the 26th the festival of the
10. Payni — Har ;j-ont ;^rutf. manifestation of Khem or Amsi; the -SOth
11. Epiphi — Apet. the festival of the locust. (Brugsch, ut
12. Mesori — Harmachis. supra.) — S. B.
3 See pp. 373-4.
24
370 I'HE ANCIENT EGYPTIANS. ^ ICuap. XL
exactly in that latitude (in consequence of a certain concunence
in the positions of the heavenly bodies) with the calculation of
the Egyptians.^ ' This sidereal or Sothic year,' says Censorinus,
*the Greeks term cynikon^ the Latins canicularis^ because its
commencement is taken from the rising of the Dog-star on the
first day of the month, called by the Egyptians Thoth;'^ which,
while it accords with the observations of Porphyry, that 'the first
day of the month is fixed in Egypt by the rising of Sothis,' fully
confutes the opinion of those who suppose that the name Thoth
was applied to the first day alone, and not to the month itself.
That the five days,^ called of the Epact, were added at a most
remote period, may readily be credited ; and so convinced were
the Egyptians of this that they referred it to the fabulous times
of their history, wrapping it up in the guise of allegory ; and
it is highly probable that the intercalation of the quarter day,
or one day in four years, was also of very early date.
On this subject much controversy has been expended, without,
as usual on such occasions, arriving at any satisfactory result ;
many doubting that it was known to them before the late time
of the Roman conquest, some confining it to the period of the
Persian conquest, and others assigning it to the year 1322 before
our era, which was the beginning of a Sothic period, when the
solar 3^ear of 365 days coincided with the Sothic of 365 1 days,
or which, in other words, intercalated an additional day every
fourth year. For the Egyptians, finding by observation that
1460 Sothic were equal to 1161 solar years, the seasons having
in that time passed through every part of the year and returned
again to the same point, established this as a standard for
adjusting their calendar, under the name of the Sothic period;
and though for ordinary purposes, as the dates of their kings
and other events, they continued to use the solar or vague year
of 365 days, every calculation could thus be corrected, by com-
paring the time of this last with that of the Sothic or sidereal
year. The sacred was the same as the solar or vague year ; and
' Mure, ' Calendar and Zodiac of 12th Dynasty, previous to which they are
Ancient Ejrvpt,' p. 8. not mentioned on the monuments. The
2 Censorin. de Die Nat. c. 13. Por- solar ye;u- of 3Gu was in use in the days of
phyry and Solinus say the Egyptians con- Euergetes II., B.C. 20S, and attempted to
sidercd this period to "commence at the he- be reformed on account of the confusion it
ginningr of the world. had produced in the calendar. (Lepsius,
3 The five days called hru, ' additional,' ' Das Dekret von Canopus,' fol. Berl. 1770.)
or by the Greeks Epagomenai, were intro- — S. B.
duced into the calendar at the time of the
Chap. XL] CALENDAR. 371
ail ancient author, cited by Jablonski,^ asserts that the Egyptian
kings took an oath in the adytum that they would not inter-
cahite any month or day, but that the sacred year of 365 days
should remain as instituted in ancient times. It' this be true,
it argues that intercalation of the additional day was coeval with
the era of the Pharaohs, since the prohibition could only have
been directed against this innovation. But without pretending
to give a decided opinion respecting the period of its first intro-
duction, I may observe that the positive testimony of Diodorus^
shows it to have been in use before the Roman conquest, that
historian having lived, and, as he says, "visited Egypt, under
Ptolemy Neus Dionysus ; ' ^ and the ignorance of Herodotus on
the subject, who speaks"* of the Egyptian year of 365 days having
the effect of keeping the seasons in their proper places, is readily
accounted for by the fact of the Egyptians only using this solar
year for their ordinary calculations, the knowledge of the sidereal
one being confined to the priests. For it is more reasonable to
suppose the Father of History to be mistaken in this, as he is
on so many points relating to Egypt, than that so important a
discovery, which had escaped them whilst their astronomical
skill was at its zenith, during the flourishing period of the Pha-
raohs, should be made at a time when ' the wisdom ' of Egypt
had already declined, and, above all, during the confusion con-
sequent upon the occupation of the country by the Persians.
T ^T does the circumstance of the Hebrews neglecting to adopt
thf Sothic year argue that it was introduced subsequently to
the Exodus and the age of Moses : the Arabs, who conquered
Egypt long after its universal adoption, persisted and still persist
in the use of their imperfect lunar months : as some Europeans
are indifferent to the introduction of the Gregorian calendar ;
but both these are not the less known because unadopted, and
no argument can fairly be derived from similar omissions. I do
not, however, assert that the Sothic year was invented before the
time of Moses, and it will probably long remain uncertain when
the Egyptians first introduced so important an innovation.
[No point has been more disputed than the question of the
existence of a fixed year amongst the ancient Egyptians. It is
clear that after the Alexandrian reformation of the calendar a
year, called ' the year according to the ancients,' corresponding to
1 Jablonski, Panth. E^rypt. lib. iv. c. 2, « Diodor. i. 50. 3 ibid. i. 44.
p. 210. 4 Herodot. ii. 4.
372 I'll*' ANCIENT EGYPTIANS. [CuAV. XI.
the vague year, was also in ust'. That the vague year of 365 (hiys
was in couiuiou eniph)ynieut under the Ptolemies appears from the
DeureeofCauopus, which recites the fact of tlie disturbance of the
calendar owing to the festivals being celebrated at inappropriate
times, and the attempt to reform it by tiie introduction of a sixth
intercalary day at the end of every fourth year. Philologically,
it has been attem j)ted to be })roved that there were two years, from
such expressions as ' the first year,* ap tep, or renpa; 'the opening
of the year,' ap renpa, and nn renpa ; and ■• the ending year,' arg
renpa : but doubt is thrown upon the philological position by the
consideration that ap renpa may mean 'yearly/ as ap abut means
' monthly ' in the Rosetta inscription. The older calendars, prior to
the 14th D3'nasty, give the following series of festivals as running
through the year: 1. The commencement of the year. 2. The
festival of Thoth. 3. New year. 4. Of the Uata. 5. Of Sostaris.
6. Great and little heat or burning. 7. Holocaust. 8. Appear-
ance or showing of the god Khem or Asi. 9. Of Sat'. 10. First
of month. 11. Fifteenth of month. 12. All other festivals.
Some of these were movable festivals ; and under the 11th and
12th Dynasties the festivals of Osiris, the five intercalary days,
or EpagomenJB, and of the appearance of Sethis, were mentioned
in the calendar for the first time, as also those of the Neomenia,
2d, 6th, 10th, 15th. This would show that the introduction of
the solar in place of the lunar year was not older than the 12th
Dynasty, when the Sotliic cycle was first instituted to correct the
wandering improved year of 365 days. In the correct or normal
year, the 1st of Thoth ought to correspond to the heliacal rising
of Sothis or Sirius the Dog-star, and the commencement of the
rise of the Nile. Such a state of the calendar is alluded to in
the ceiling of the Memnonium and the walls of Medinat Habu :
but it is evident from the zodiacs of the tombs of Rameses VI. and
Rameses IX. that a vague year was in use even for astronomical
observations, to whicli the calendar of Elephantine gives evidence
by its recording the rise of Sothis in the reign of Thothmes III.
on the 28th Epiphi instead of the 1st Thoth. Normally, the
rise of Sirius, and the commencement of the Sothic j'^ear, was the
20th July, 1st of Thoth, and the fixed year ought to commence
with it. There were, without doubt, many attempts to correct
the vague year owing to the obvious disturbance of the phenomena,
but it is very (hnibtful if a fixed year actually came into use till
the final reformation of the calendar by Augustus, when the
beginning of the vear was (inallv fixed, in P..C. 27, to the 29th
Chap. XI.l
SEASONS AND MOXTHS.
373
of August, the 1st of Thoth, up to wliich period the vague year
was in sacerdotal and secuhir use.' — S. B,]
[Though Herodotus does not call the twelve portions, into
which the Egyptian year was divided, months, it is certain that
the original division was taken, as among most other people,
from the moon ; the hieroglyphic signifying * month ' being the
crescent.2 The Egyptians had three years : one unintercalated,
of 360 days ; and two intercalated, respectively of 365 and 365 J
days. They were divided into three seasons (' spring, summer,
and winter,' ^ according to Diodorus *) , each composed of four
months of 30 days ; and in the two intercalated years five days
were added at the end of the twelfth month, which completed
the 365 da3-s; the quarter day in the last of them being added
every fourth year, as in our leap-year.
The three seasons were thus represented, with the four
moTiths belonging to each : - -
2S'o. 463.
The TwELviE EcrPTfAN Months.
i 0 .<» yvVWA
Mil
, 111 *
O <». /vv^l^A
MJ
^^yP \ Cboettk.
name. I
Coptic} Keeak.
name. )
27th Nov.
-Hatoor.
28lb Oct.
Taopl.
liabeh.
59th Sept.
Tholh.
Toot-
began 29th Ang. O.s.
Season oj the Water I'lants.
crm
A/ws/S
Coptic j
name. '
Baranioodeh.
27th Marcii.
Phamenotb.
Barambdt.
25th Feb.
Mecbir.
Imsheer.
26th July.
Tobi.
Toobeh.
27th Dec.
Beason, of Floughjjicj.
1 Lepsius, 'Einleit.,' p. 147, and foil.
TJrujjsch, ' Milt, du C'alendricr chez les
l5^yptiens,' 4to, Leipzi<;-, 1864. Le Pa^e
Ile>'oiif, Calendar of Astron. Obsevv. in the
'Trans. Soc. BiW. Arch.,' vol. iii. p. 400,
andfolL — S. B.
2 Although month was expressed by
aah, 'moon,' the form -^
o
aah
ba t, occurs, the same as the Coptic ahot ;
in the hieroglyphics «k having the value
of soul, ba, as well as star, &c. There is
no proof of the simultaneous confusion of
three years, although all existed neces-
sarily. — S. B.
3 The Egj'ptian seasons were s/i, the
commencement or inundation, certainly
not the spring, as it precedes the second
season ; per, the Coptic pro, or winter ;
and the thinl season, se'/n, or summer.
Although reversed, summer,winter, spring,
would coincide with the idea of spring, the
real difficulty being that summer must
have endeil before the 29th .July in the
normal year. (Brugsch, ' Mat. du Cal.,'
p. 34.) — S. B.
* Died. i. 11.
374
THE ANX'lENT EGYPTIANS.
[C'HAl'. XI.
till X
A,^/^•^^ III
/wvv\ AA^/^A
name. S
Coptic \
name. \
Mesoree.
25th July
Ep.-i<.
Ebib.
21th Juno.
Baoonch.
20th M.\v.
Pdchons.
Bcshens.
26th April.
Sedxon of (he llVf/ez-.s.
Tlie first season began with the month Tlioth (the first day
of which, in the time of Augustus, B.C. 24. coincided with the 29th
August, o.s.),and was composed of the four months Thoth, Paopi,
Athor, Choeak . the sec(Hid of Tobi. Mecliir, Fhiinipnoth, Phar-
muthi ; the third of Pachons, Paoni, Epep, and Mesore ; at the
end of which were at'ded the five days of the intercalated year.
Tlie names of the seasons appear to be, 1st, of the phmts ; 2d.
of flowering, or harvest ; and 3d, of the waters, or inundation :
which originally corresponded nearly to, 1st, November, Decem-
ber. January and February; 2d. March, April, May and Jinie;
3d, July, August, Septembc and October. But as. in course of
time, the seasons changed, and those of summer fell in winter,
they found it necessary to make another correction : and for this
j'urpose they resolved on ascertaining the period that elapsed be-,
tween the return of a fixed star to the same place in the heavens,
which they perceived would not be variable as were their con-
ventional seasons. The heliacal rising of the dog-star. Sothis,
was therefore the point fixed upon, and in 1460 Sothic (or 1461
of their vague) years they found that it rose again heliacally.
that their seasons had returned to their original places again, and
that they had lost one whole year, according to the calculation
of 365 days. This showed them that the difference of a quarter
of a day annually required that one day every four years should
))e intercalated to complete the true year ; and though they had
already devised other means of fixing the return of a certain
period of the year, this was the first nearly accurate determination
of its length. The period when they first began their observations,
as well as that still more remote one when the first intercalated
year of 365 days came into use, must have been long before the
year 1322 B.C. ; and an inscription (in the Turin Museum) of the
time of Amenophis I., the second king of the 18th Dynasty,
mentions the year of 365 days. Lepsius and M. de Rouge have
also shown that the five days were already noticed in the 12th
Dynasty, and that the rise of Sothis was celebrated at the same
period. T'^e heliacal rising of Sothis was therefore ascertained
Chap. Xr.| CHRONOLOGY. 375
long before the year 1322 ; and the rejjiited antiquity of tlie
intercalary days is shown by their being ascribed, according to
Strabo, to Hermes, as well as by the fable of the hve sons of Seb
having been born on those days ; nor would the Egyptian kings
have 'sworn to retain the sacred year of 365 days withont inter-
calating any day or month,' unless the Sothic j'ear had been
already invented. Herodotus also says that they were indebted
to the stars for their mode of adjusting the 3"ear and its seasons.
But there is reason to believe that the still older year of 300 days
was retained for the dates of kings' reigns ; and that this un-
intercalated year of 300 da3^s was the one used in their records
and monumental stela? : thus, an Apis was born in the 53d year
of Psammatichus I., the 19th Mechir, and died in the 16th year
of Neco, on the Otli Paopi, aged 16 years 7 months and 17 days.
Now from 19th Mechir to 0th Paopi are 210 days + 11 to
the end of Mechir + 0 of Pao})i = 227, or 7 months 17 days
over the 10 years ; without any intercalary 5 days. It is, how-
ever, jjossible that the live days were included in the last month
of the year, and that it was a year of 305 days ; but there is
no mention of the 31st, or any other day beyond the 30th, of
Mesore.
The Sothic year of 365^ days was called the square year, the
annus qaadratus of Pliny ; ^ and the same mentioned by Diodorus,^
Macrobius,-^ and Horapollo. The retention of the unintercalated
and intercalated vague year would prevent the confusion which
might have been expected from the older and later chronological
memoirs having been kept in years of a different reckoning ; for
it Avas always easy to turn these last into Sothic years, when more
accurate calculations were required; and this Sothic, or sidereal
year, was reserved for particular occasions, as the old Coptic year
is used by the modern Egyptians when they wish to fix any
particular period, or to ascertain the proper season for agricultural
purposes.
The Egyptians had therefore an object in retaining the
vague year, in order that the festivals of the gods, in course
of time, might pass through the different seasons of the year, as
Geminus the Rhodian (who lived in 77 B.C.) informs us. It is
also evident that without the accuracy of the Sothic year they
could not, as Herodotus supposes, have fixed the exact return of
the seasons.
1 Plin. ii. 47. 2 Diod. i. 50. 3 Maciob. i. 16.
376 THE ANCIENT EGYPTIANS. [Chap. XI.
We may conclude that the Egyptians had at first a lunar
year, which being regulated by the moon, and divided into twelve
moons or months, led to a mouth being ever after represented in
hierogylphics by a moon : but this would only have been at a
most remote period, before the establishment of the Egyptian
monarchy ; and some might hence derive an argument in favor
of the early use of hieroglyphics, and suppose that they were
invented before the introduction of the solar months. In India
also the lunar year was older than the solar. — G.W.]
The examination of the astronomical subjects in the Tombs
of the Kings and on other monuments may perhaps some day
tend to decide this question, when the complete interpretation
of hierogylphics does away with the necessity of conjecture : in
the meantime, I feel less regret in al)staining from the mention
of many arguments which might be adduced to maintain the
antiquity of the intercalation of the quarter day, as the learned
Letronne has already prepared an elaborate essa}^ on the subject,
and is supported in his opinion by the authority of a Greek
papyrus in the collection of the Louvre. And whilst mentioning
this, I must not omit my tribute of praise to another excellent
work, in which this question is treated with great candor and
learning; many valuable remarks being embodied in Mure's
•• Calendar and Zodiac of Ancient Egypt." I have also introduced
some remarks on the adoption of the Sothic year, in another
part of this work, extracted from a previous publication in the
year 1828.
The pursuits of agriculture did not prevent the Egyptians
from arriving at a remarkable pre-eminence as a manufacturing
nation ; nor did they tend to discourage the skill of the grazier
and the shepherd ; though the office of these last was looked
down upon with contempt, and the occupation of persons engaged
in manufactures and all handicraft employments was, to the
.soldier at least, ignoble and unmanly. Large Hocks and herds
always formed part of the possessions of wealthy individuals ;
the breed of horses was a principal care of the grazier, and,
besides those retiuired for the army and private use, many were
sold to foreign traders who visited the country : ' and the rearing
of so many sheep in the Thebaid, where mutton was unlawful
food,2 proves the object to have been to sup])ly the wool-market
1 1 Kin-is x. 28, 29.
2 Strabo (lit), wii. p. 552) says sheep were only sacrificed in the Nitnotic nouie.
Chap. XI.] INDUSTRY. — AGRICULTURE. 377
with good fleeces, two of which, owing to the attention they
paid to its food, were annually supplied by each animal. That
the Egyptians should successfully unite the advantages of an
agricultural and a manufacturing country is not surprising,
when we consider that in those early times the competition of
other manufacturing countries did not interfere with their mar-
ket; and though Tyre and Sidon excelled in line linen and
other productions of the loom, many branches of industry
brought exclusive advantages to the Egyptian workman. Even
in the flourishing days of the Phoenicians, Egypt exported
linen to other countries, and she probably enjoyed at all times
an entire monopoly in this, and every article she manufactured,
with the caravans of the interior of Africa.
Now, indeed, the case is widely different. The population of
Egypt is so reduced as not to suffice for the culture of the
lands ; an overgrown military force has drained the country of
able-bodied men, who ouglit to be employed in promoting the
wealth of the communitx . oy increasing the produce of the soil;
and a number of hands are continually withdrawn from the
fields to advance manufactures, which, without benefiting the
people, are inferior (especially for exportation) to those of other
countries. Add to this the great cost for machinery, which is
quickly injured by the quantity of fine sand that constantly
clogs the wheels and other parts, causing additional mischief
from the nitre with which it is impregnated; and it must be
evident that modern Egypt, with a population of not one million
and a half, and with the comj^etition of European manufacturing
countries, is no longer in the same position as Egypt of the
Pharaohs, with upwards of four times the population, less com-
petition, greater variety of manufactures, and no comparative
local disadvantages unexperienced by their rivals.
I have attributed the early advancement of the Egyptians in
land-surveying, levelling, and various branches of geometry, to
their great attention to the agricultural interests of the coun-
try; and as it is reasonable to suppose the knowledge they thus
acquired led to many other important discoveries, we are not
surprised to find them at a very early time well versed in
numerous operations indicative of mathematical science and
mechanical skill.
Of these the most remarkable instances occur in the con-
struction of those ancient and magnificent monuments, the
Pyramids of Gizeh (where the beauty of the masonry of the
378 THE ANCIENT EGYPTIANS. [Chap. XI.
interior has not been surpassed, and I may even say has not
been equalled, in any succeeding age) ; in the transport and
erection of enormous masses of granite; and in the underground
chambers excavated in the solid rock at Thebes and other
places; where we admire the combined skill of the architect,
the surveyor, and the mason. The origin of these subterraneous
works was derived from the custom of burying the bodies of
the dead in places removed beyond the reach of the inundation,
and not, as some have supposed, from the habit of living in
caves, ascribed to the fabled Troglodyte ; and it is a remarka-
ble fact that the excavated tombs and temples bear direct evi-
dence of having derived their character from built monuments,
in the architrave reaching from column to column, which is
taken from the original beam supporting a roof, — a feature
totally inconsistent with a simple excavated chamber.
These feelings, derived from architecture, are carried still
further: we find them extended to statues, which are supjjorted
from behind by an obelisk, or a stele ; and the figure of a
king is applied to a S(|uare pillar, both in built and excavated
temples.
The abundant supply of grain and other produce gave to
Egypt advantages which no other country possessed.^ Not only
were her dense population supplied with a profusion of the
necessaries of life, but the sale of the surplus conferred con-
siderable benetits on the peasant, in addition to the protits
which thence accrued to the state: for Egypt was a granary
where, from the earliest times, all people felt sure of tinding a
plenteous store of corn ; ^ and some idea, as I have already had
occasion to observe, may be formed of the immense quantity
produced there, from the circumstance of 'seven plenteous
years' affording, from the superabundance of the crops, a suf-
ficiency of corn to supply the whole poi)ulation during seven
years of dearth, as well as ' all countries ' which sent to Egypt
' to buy ' it, when Pharaoh by the advice of Joseph ^ laid up
the annual surplus for that purpose.
The right of ex})(xrtation, and the sale of supertiuous produce
to foreigners, belonged exclusively to the government, as is
1 It appears, however. tVoni tlic Decree Tlinthme-* III. eoni seems to have been
of Canopus, aheady eiteii, that K^rypt biouiiht aloiii; witli other thiii<rs as tribute
oceasionally, in eoiiseqiienee of ileficient toE^rypt. ■ — S. B.
Niles, wasoblificil to import corn for its - Gen. xii. 10, and xlii. 2.
own consumption. Even in the time of 3 Gen. xli. 29 et seq.
CnAi'. XL] LAND-iMEAiSUKlNG. 379
distinctly shown by the sales of corn to the Israelites from tlie
royal stores, and the collection having been made by Pharaoh
only; and it is probable that the landowners were in the habit
of selling to government whatever quantity remained on hand
at the approach of each successive harvest. Indeed, their frugal
mode of living enabled the peasants to dispose of nearly all the
wheat and barley their lands produced, and they may frequently,
as at the present day, have been contented with bread made of
the doora^ 1A.0UV ; children, and even grown-up persons, according
to Diodorus,^ often living on roots and esculent herbs, as the
papyrus, lotus, and others, either raw, roasted, or boiled. At
all events, whatever may have been the quality of the bread
they used, it is certain that the superabundance of grain was
very considerable, Egypt annually producing three, and even
four crops ; and though the government obtained a large profit
on the exportation of corn, and the price received from foreign
merchants far exceeded that paid to the peasants, still these
last derived great benefit, and the money thus circulated through
the country tended to improve the condition of the agricultural
classes.
The Egyptian land measure was the aroura^ which, according
to Herodotus and Horapollo,^ being a square of 100 cubits,
covered an area of 10,000 cubits, and, like our acre, was soleh'
employed for measuring land. The other measures of Egy])t
were the sclupne, which varied from thirty and thirty-two to forty
i^tadia, according to Pliny ;^ and the cubit, which Herodotus con-
siders equal to that of Samos: ^ for though the stade is often used
by Greek writers in giving the measurements of monuments in
i The Holcus Sor(]huiu. Jupiter Casius at the Serbonic Lake to
2 Diodor. i. 80, and also xxxiv. 43, and Pharos, wliich, added to 200 stadia to
Herodot. ii. 92. Taposiiis, make 1970 stadia The real
^ Hoiapollo, Hieroor. i. 5. distance from t'asius to Pharos is about
•» [Plin. V. 10 ; xii. 14. Strabo dis- 1944 stadia, and from Pharos to Taposiris
tinctly says (xvii. p. 1140), it was of or to Plinthine nearly 260, beinji^ a total of
various lennrths in different parts of Ejrypt. about 2204 stadia. "Plinthine was a town
Herodotus says it was equal to sixty stadia near the Lake Mareotis (Strabo, xvii. p.
(ii.6),and makes tlic lenjxth of the coast 1133; Ptol. iv. c. 5; Scylax. Perip. 10.')).
•of E^ypt .3600 stadia, which, at 600 feet to From it the lake, as well as the bay, was
the stadium, would be more than 400 sometimes called ' Plinthinetan." ' The
Enjilish miles. The real lenutli of the name ' Arapotes,' ffiven in Plin. v. 10 to
coast from the Bay of Plinthine' at Tapo- this lake, is evidently a false rea<ling-. It
siris, or at Plinthine, even to the eastern should be Rachotis,'and applies lo Ale\-
end of the Lake Seibonis, is by the shore andria. The schwne served, like the
little more than ,300 Enylish miles. Greek stade, the Persian parasaii^, and the
Diodorus estimates the breadth of Etrypt more modern mile, for measuriuji- distaiwe,
by the coast at 201)0 stadia; and .strabo or the extent of a country. - G. W.]
gives only 1770 ^tatba from the Temple of s Herodot. ii. 168.
380 THE ANCIENT EGYPTIANS. [Chap. XI.
Egypt, it was not really an Egyptian nieasure, as Herodotus
[)lainly shows by ascribing its use to the Greeks, and the scluenus
to the Egyptians. 1 They also mention the plethrum in giving
the length of some buildings, as the Pyramids; but this was prop-
erly a Greek measure, doubling the Greek aroura, and con-
taining, according to some, 10,000 square feet, or, as others
sup[)ose, 1444. When used as a measure of length, it w^as
usually estimated at lOU feet ; though, if Herodotus' measurement
t)f the Great Pyramid be correct, it could not complete 100 of
our feet, as he gives the length of each face 8 plethra. But little
reliance can be placed on his measurements,'^ since in this he
exceeds the true length ; and to the face of the third pyramid
he only allows 8 plethra, which, calculating the plethrum at
100 feet, is more than half a plethrum short of the real length —
each face, according to the measurement of Colonel Howard
Vyse,^ being 354 feet.
In former times the difficulty of measuring the exterior
dimensions of the pyramid was much less than at present ; and
owing to the mound of broken stone, earth, and sand, which has
accumulated about the centre of each face, it is so difficult to
ascertain their exact extent, that no two persons agree in their
measurements: and all attempts to calculate the value of ancient
measures from this monument are hopeless, as well frcnn the
inaccuracy and disagreement of Greek and Roman w'riters upon
the subject, as from the variation of modern measurements. Of
my own, 1 shall only say that the mode I adopted in measuring
the face of the Great P3'ramid appeared to me as little liable to
error as any I could devise ; which was of ascending to the tier
above the level and encumbrance of the mound of earth in the
centre of the face, and measuring along that uninterrupted
horizontal line, from whose end having let fall a perpendicular
(easily determined by the eye) to the base, in order to ascertain
the additional portion at each corner, 1 completed the whole
measurement by adding the bases of those two right angles.
This made the total length of the present face 732 feet,,
agreeing to within one foot with the measurement of Mr. Lane,
who gives it 733 feet; an approximation highly satisfactory
1 Hcioilot. ii. 6, 149. loss than the hci>rht.
■^ Wc ma}- Ibrjrive Heroriotus and otlicr •' The importance of the discoverie*
writers lor an error m the liei<;ht of the made In Col. llowai'd \'vse at the Pyra-
pyramid. He makes it equal to tlic lonjrth mids ean only he appreciMtod on roferrin<r
of the facft; Straho says, the side is a little to lii» valuable worU.
Chap. XL] MEASURES. 381
from tlie well-known accuracy of his observations. The total
lengtli when entire I believe to have been 755 or TtJG feet,
which would be exactly 440 cubits, according to the length
I shall presently show to have been that of the Eg^-ptian
cubit.
I <lo not pretend to derive (or even to require) any authority
from this monument respecting the length of the cubit. The
measurements are not sufficiently accui-ate for this purpose, and
the cubit is too small a measure to be defined by the proportionate
parts of so long a line ; nor are the courts of different temples
suited to guide us in so delicate a calculation ; and even the
small dimensions of colossi may mislead, as it is not certain
(and indeed there are evident proofs to the contrar}^) that they
were measured to a decimal number of cubits. The vocal statue
of Tliebes and its com[»anion are little more tlian 60 feet high
(including the pedestal), which make 35 cubits; but this leads
to no conclusion, because we are uncertain whether a fixed
measurement was assigned to the whole statue with its pedestal,
or to the figure alone, and neither this part nor the pedestal bears
an exact proportion to the cubit. It is, indeed, probable that a
monument of such magnitude and of such consequence as the
pyramid was measured by a decimal number of cubits, and the
exact length of its faces was doubtless divisible by such a number ;
but, as I have already stated, the accurate determination of its
original dimensions is still a desideratum, and no conclusion can
thence be formed of the length of the Egyptian cubit. Happily
other data of a less questionable nature are left us for this
purpose, and the graduated cubit in the Nilometer of Elephantine,
and the wooden cubits discovered in Egypt, suffice to establish
its length, without the necessity of uncertain hypotheses. Some
have supposed that the Eg3q3tian cubit varied at different
periods, and that it consisted at one time of 24, at another of
32 digits; or that there were two cubits of different lengths,^ —
one of 24 digits or (3 palms, the othei' of 32 digits or 8 palms,
employed at the same period for different purposes. Some have
maintained, with M. Girard, that the cubit used in the Nilometer
of Elephantine consisted of 24 digits, others that it contained
32 ; 2 and numerous calculations have been deduced from these
conflicting opinions respecting the real length of the cubit.
' The Jewish cubit was 1 ft. 8-24 in., or 1 ft. 9-i
2 Mem. de I'Acad vol. xvi. p. 333 et seq.
382 TOE AXCIEXT EGYPTIAN'S. [Chap. XI.
But a few words will suffice to show the manner in which that
cubit was divided, the number of its digits, and its exact length
in English inches ; and respecting the supposed change in the
cubit used in the Nilometers of Egypt, 1 shall only observe, that
})eople far more prone to innovation than the Egyptians would
not readily tolerate a similar deviation from long-established
custom ; and it is obvious that the greatest confusion would be
caused throughout the country, and that agriculture would suffer
incalculable injuries if the customary announcement of a certain
number of cubits for the rise of the Nile were changed, through
the introduction of a cubit of a different length. The peasant
would no longer understand the quantity of water, the propor-
tionate height of the river, or the proper time for admitting it
from the canals ; in short, all the system of irrigation would be
deranged, and this without any result, without any advantage to
compensate for this arbitrary change in the standard of measure-
ment. Indeed, the very few alterations made by the Ptolemies,
beyond the precincts of Alexandria, in the habits and customs of
the Egyptians, are a strong argument against the probability of
their interference in a matter of so much importance, and
involving so many interests, as the change in the mode of
measuring the inundation of the Nile; and the ancient wooden
cubits found in Egypt are the same measure as the graduated
scale at Elephantine. To these I now invite the attention of the
reader.
The Nilometer in the island of Elephantine is a staircase
between two walls descending to the Nile, on one of which is a
succession of graduated scales containing one or two cubits,
accompanied by inscriptions recording the rise of the river at
various periods, during the rule of the Csesars. Every cubit is
divided into fourteen parts, each of 2 digits, giving 28 digits to
the cubit : and the length of the cubit is 1 ft. 8| in., or 165 eighths,
which is 1 ft. 8-625 in. to each cubit, and 0.7o6 in. to each digit.
The wooden cubit, published by M. Joniard, is also dfvided into
28 ^ parts or digits, and therefore accords, both in its di\ ision,
and, as I shall show, very nearly in length, with the cubit of
Elephantine. In this last we learn, from the inscriptions accom-
panying the scales, that the principal divisions were palms and
digits ; the cubit being 7 palms or 28 digits : and the former in
' M. .Jomavd represents one with twenty-nine divisions, which he computes at a total
0J)2']r) millimetres.
Chap. XL]
MEASURES.
383
like uiaiiiier consisted of 7 palms or 28 digits.^ The ordinary
<livisi(»n, therefore, of the cubit was: —
The Cdbit in thb Nilohetbb of Elephantine.
1 (li<:it
28
1 palin
1 cubit
Feet. Inches.
0 0-736
0 2 -WO
1 S-025
111 the cubits of M. Joraard the divisions, or digits, commence
on the left with 1, 2, 3, and 4 digits or 1 palm : the latter
indicated by a hand (sometimes with, sometimes without, a
thumb) : next to this is the whole hand, or 5 digits (with the
thumb) ; then the fist, or as the Arabs call it, the kuhdeh (the
hand closed, with the thumb erect), making 6 digits ; after
which may perhaps be traced the dichas, or 2 palms, of 8 digits ;
the Jitr, or span with the forefinger and thumb; and the shthr,
or spitham^, the entire span ; the former of 11, the latter of 13
digits. But there is no indication of a foot, and the 15 last
digits are solely occupied with fractional parts, beginning with
a 16th and ending in i a digit: from which we may conclude
that the smallest measurement in the Egyptian scale of length
was the 16th of a digit, or the 46th of an inch.
1 No point has been more disputed than
the exiict measurement of the cubit, called
in Egyptian md, one of the lontf ends of
which was always bevelled. Several of
tliese have been found made of stone, wood,
and other materials. There was ii royal
cubit, saien md, of 7 palms, sap, or 28
dijrits, called fingers, teb ; the whole equal
to 525 millimetres, or accordint,'' to Sir H.
James, 20-728 inches. The ordinary cubit
measured 6 palms or 24 diirits, and was
emjiloyed in the construction of the monu-
ments. After the maA nets, lesser cubit, or
as it may be read, mah da, came tlie greater
cubit; for after it the tnah or ciil)it an-ain
occurs of 5 palms or 16 dijiits, which by
some is read keb, or arm, supposed to be
the pygon of the Greeks. The next sub-
division was the t'er of 4 palms or 16 digits,
and then the spithame, one of the great
spithame, remen da, or half of the royal
cubit, equal to 3j palms or 14 digits, and
remen nets, or small spithame, equal to 12
digits. The next subdivision was the tv.o
hands, tut sen. of 8 digits; then the foot,
^ep, of Ij palm or 6 digits; then the palm,
s'ap, of 4 digit:,; and lastly the teb, finger,
or digit, which was subdivided, as in
modern scales for plan drawing, into an
arithmetic succession from two to sixteen
divisions, called rw. It is clear from the
fact of Egyptian monuments, such as the
Pyramids, not being constructed of equal
length on all four sides, and the impossi-
bility of measuring to a tlecimal such long
sides, that no reliance can be placed on
deductions of length derived from sub-
divisions of such incorrect and mutilated
monuments, while the actual existing cubits
afford lietter if not absolutely correct data.
Each inch was dedicated to a deity, the
cubits consecrated to the gods for the per-
sons to whom they belonged, and one
ucrompanied by the names of certain cities
and distances specified. (Lepsius, 'Die
Mlt-iigyptische Elle,' 4to, Berlin, 1865, in
the ' Abhandl. d. K. Akad. d. Wissen-
schaften.') — S. B.
384
THE ANX'IENT EGYPTIANS.
[Chap. XI.
From this may be constructed the following scale and division
of the Egyptian cubit : —
Parts of the Cubit.
I'e of a digit
16 I 1 digit .
'21 condyle ?
4 2
III
6| -
11
13
28
1 palm
1 hand
1 kubdeh .
1 dichas, or 2 palms
- I IJitr.
1 shibr, spitha-
me, or span,
1 cubit.
Cubit of the
Nilometer.
Inches English.
0-04603
0-7366
1-4732
2-9464
3-6830
4-4196
.5-8928
8-1026
9-5758
20-62.50
Cubit of Mem-
phis, according
to Joinaid.
niches English.
0-045C,9
0-73115
1-4623
2-9247
3 -6557
4-3869'
5-8494
8-0428'
9-5051
20-47291
In the foregoing table I have compared the cubit of the
Nilometer, according to my measurements, taken from the
monument, and the w^ooden cubit found at Memphis, described
by M. Jomard,^ which he reckons at 520 millimetres, or 20-47291
English inches.
That in the Museum at
Turin he states to be .
Another ....
Another ....
And he computes that of
the Nilometer at .
522j7j5 millimetres, or 20-57869 Engl'sh inches.
.523 " or 20-61806 ^ -'
524 " or 20-65843
527
or 20-74840
which last far exceeds my calculation.
The careless manner in which the graduation of the scales of
the Nilometer at Elephantine has been made by the Egyptians
renders the precise length of its cubit difficult to determine ;
but as I have carefully measured all of them, and have been
guided b}' their general length as well as by the averages of
the whole, I am disposed to think my measurement as near the
truth as possible ; and, judging from the close approximation of
different wooden cubits, whose average M. Jomard estimates at
523-506 millimetres, we may conclude that they were all intended
1 Jomard, ' Etalon metrique,' and ' Lettre a M. .\bel Remnsat snr une noiivelle Mesiu-e
de Coiide'e.'
Chap. XI. j MEASURES. 385
to represent the same measures, strongly arguing against
the supposition of different cubits having been in use, one of
24 and others of 28 and 32 digits ; and, indeed, if at any
time the Egyptians employed a cubit of a different length,
consisting of 24 digits, it is not probable that it was used in
their Nilometers, for architectural purposes, or for measuring
land.
If it really existed, the name of Royal Cubit,^ inscribed on
these wooden measures, was doubtless applied exclusively to
that of 28 digits (which I have shown to be the usual length of
the wooden measures, and of the cubit of Elephantine), and the
simple cubit may have contained only 24. I have received from
Mr. Harris, of Alexandria, an account of a measure which has
been discovered at Karnak, on the removal of some stones from
one of the towers of a propylon, between which it a[)pears to
have been accidentally left by the masons, at the time of its
erection, at the remote period^ of the 18th Dynasty. It is
divided into 14 parts, but each part is double in length those of
the cubit of Elephantine, and therefore consists of 4 digits ;
and the whole measure is equal to 2 cubits, being 41y^q inches
English. Thus then one of these contains 20*6500 inches,
which suffices to show that the cubit of Elephantine was em-
ployed for ordinary purposes (differing from it only in .0250
decimal parts), and confirms my opinion respecting the general
use of one and the same measure. This double cubit has the
first division in its scale of 14 parts subdivided into halves, and
the next into quarters, one of these last being equal to 1 digit.
The length of the ancient Egyptian cubit and its parts may
be stated as follows : —
Of theNilo- Of Memphis,
meter of accordiiit; to
Elephantine. Jomaid.
1 digit or dactylus . . = English inches 0 7366 .. 0'73115
4 digits or 1 pahn . . = " •2-9464 .. 2-92470
2S " or 7 pahus or 1 cubit = " 20*6250 ,. 20-47291
^^— o-|
A to C, which would be a difference of
/\. The dif- about four fintjers.
- These towers were erected bv Horus,
ference in lenotli of these two cubits was ^'l Haremliebi a kia^r of the 18th Dynasty
perhaps taken from the measurement at ^^ '° reigned from 140b o U9o B.C.. and
the upper side of the arm, A to B, who used stones from older monuments
vT ' bearmj^ the ovals oi the kui"' [Khuenaten]
^ , ^, , . , „ whose name occurs at Tel el Amarna
and the under or outside from {Materia Hierotf. V and W), who had also
*^"' ''^> erased the name of Ameuophis III.
VOL. II. 2g
386 THE ANCIENT EGYPTIANS. [Chap. XL
The leiigtlis of diiferent Egyptian cubits are : —
Millimetres. Eng. inches.
The cubit In the Turin Museum, according to my measurement .522,^, or 20'5730
The same, according to Joniard -''-'^lo o'" 20'.5786
Another . . 523 or 20-6180
Another 524 or 20-6.584
Jomard's cubit of Memphis, mentioned above . . . 520 or 20-4720
Cubit of Elepiiantine Nilometer, according to Jomard . 527 or 20-7484
The same, according to my measurement ..... 20-6250
Part of a cubit found by me on a stone at E'Sooan . . about 21-0000
The cubit, according to ^[r. Perring's calculation at the Pyramids about 20-6280( ?)f
Mr. Harris' cubit from Thebes ....... 206500
It is highly probable that the aroura,^or square land measure,,
was divided into poles, answering to the kassobeh, reed, now used
in Egypt, by which the fcdddn is measured ; and in the absence
of any explanation of the ancient land measure, it may not be
irrelevant to notice the mode of dividing the modern fedddn.
Till lately it was a square of 20 keerdt^ carrots, or 400 ka^sohehy
reeds, or rods; and each kassobeh was divided into 24 kharoobeh
or kubdeh. But various alterations have taken place in the
modern land measure of Egypt ; and even supposing the ancient
aroura to have been divided in a similar manner, nothing can be
obtained respecting the real contents of it, beyond what we
learn from Herodotus of its being a square of 100 cubits.
There is also much uncertainty respecting the length of the
stade.^ It is generally estimated at 600 feet or 606-875 ; though,
from Herodotus at one time specifying "astade oi six plethr a,' ^
it would seem that on ordinary occasions he uses another of a
different length ; and the proportionate value of the measures,
and of the dimensions of the monuments he describes in Egypt,
are far from satisfactory. Nor is the schoene accurately defined ;
and Strabo,* on the authority of Artemidorus, states that the
length of the schoene varied among the Egyptians.
Of the nomes, or provinces, of Egypt I have already treated;
and have shown that the nomarchs,^ who were similar to 'the
officers appointed over the land' by Pharaoh,*^ and answered to
1 The ar is supposed to be equal to the round numbers 610 feet (Col. l.cake on the
schoine, and the pole, x;*. equal to the oriji/ia Stade) . — G. W.]
of six feet. The mode of dividing and ^ This is supposed to be tlie atur, a
calculating the contents of a field is given certain distance performed by a boat on
in the geometric papyrus. The fields the river. — S. B. Herodot. ii 149.
appear generally to hsive been small — ■* Straho, xvii. p. 553.
y. B. " ^ Called Affl; they were hereditary ^-e/'a,
- [If600 stadia were equal to one degree, but their fiefs were originally conferred
then the stade will be 611;!!', feet, or in upon them by the crown. — S. B
'" 6 Gen. xh. 34
CnAP. XL] HUSBANDRY. 387
the heys of the present system, superintended all the agricultu-
ral regulations established for the interests of the peasant, or
connected with the claims of government. I do not believe
that the government interfered directly with the peasant re-
specting the nature of the produce he cultivated, or that any
of the vexations of later times existed under the Pharaohs.
The peasants were naturally supposed to have obtained, from
actual observation, the most accurate knowledge on all subjects
connected with husbandry ; and, as Diodorus observes,^ ' being
from their infancy brought up to agricultural pursuits, they far
excelled the husbandmen of other countries, and had become
acquainted with the capabilities of the land, the mode of irriga-
tion, the exact season for sowing and reaping, as well as all the
most useful secrets connected with the harvest,^ which they had
derived from their ancestors, and had improved by their own
experience.' ' They rent,' says the same historian, '• the arable
land belonging to the kings, the priests, and the military class,
for a small sum, and employ their whole time in the tillage of
their farms; 'and the laborers who cultivated land for the rich
peasant or other landed proprietors, were superintended by the
steward or owner of the estate, who had authority over them,
and the power of condemning delinquents to the bastinado, and
the paintings of the tombs frequently represent a person of con-
sequence inspecting the tillage of the field, either seated in a char-
iot, walking, or leaning on his staff, accompanied by a favorite dog.
Their mode of irrigation I have already noticed. It Avas the
same in the field of the peasant as in the garden of the villa;
and the principal difference in the mode of tilling the former
consisted in the use of the plough. The water of the inundation
was differently managed in various districts. This depended
either on the relative levels of the adjacent lands, or on the
crops they happened to be cultivating at the time. AVhen a
field lay fallow, or the last crop had been gathered, the water
was permitted to overflow it as soon as its turn came to receive
it from the nearest sluices; or, in those parts where the levels
1 Diodor. i. 7'2. sparrows steal ; thieves also plunder, the
- The condition of the husbandman, ploutihshare rusts, the yoke of beasts or
however, is not described in g'lowino- terms horses die at ploughing", the tax-gatherer
by the scribe Pentaur in the Sallier Papyrus takes the sheaves, police and negroes add
I. When he would gather in the crops, it to the squabble and woes ; and if he drinks,
says, the caterpillar ravages the kitchen his wife and children sutfer for it. (W. H.
garden, and tlie beasts, or hippopotami, Goodwin, in the ' Cambridge Essays,'
eat up the other things; rats invade the 185b, p. 250.) — S. B.
fields, birds alight, beasts consume, and
388 THE ANCIENT EGYPTIANS. [Chap. XL
were low and open to the ingress of the rising stream, as soon
as the Nile arrived at a sufficient height: but when the last
autumn crop was in the ground, every precaution was taken to
keep the field from being inundated ; and ' as the water rose
gradually, they were enabled, ' says Diodorus,^ ' to keep it out by
means of small dams, which could be opened if required, and
closed again without much trouble.'
In the sculptures of the tombs are sometimes represented
canals conveying the water of the inundation into the fields;
and the proprietor of the estate is seen, as described by Virgil -^
plying in a light painted skiff or papyrus punt, and super-
intending the maintenance of the dykes, or other important
matters connected with the land. Boats carry the grain to the
granary, or remove the flocks from the lowlands ; and as the
water subsides, the husbandman ploughs the soft earth with a
pair of oxen, and the same subjects introduce the offering of
first-fruits to the gods, in acknowledgment of the benefits con-
ferred by ' a favorable Nile ^ These subjects, however, give
little insight into the actual mode of laying out the canals,
being rarely more than conventional pictures; though we may
infer from their general character that the main canal was
usually carried to the upper or southern side of the land, and
that small branches leading from it at intervals traversed the
fields in straight or curving lines, acccording to the nature or
elevation of the soil.
As the Nile subsided, the water was retained in the fields by
proper embankments ; and the mouths of the canals being again
closed, it was prevented from returning into the falling stream.
By this means the irrigation of the land was prolonged con-
siderably, and the fertilizing effects of the inundation continued
until the water was absorbed. And so rapidly does the ardent
sun of Egypt, even at this late period of the season — in the
months of November and December — dry the mud when once
deprived of its covering of water, that no fevers are generated,
and no illness visits those villages which have been entirely
surrounded by the inundation. For though some travellers
pretend that the Nile ceases to rise to the same height as in the
days of Herodotus, and iisseit that the villages no longer present
1 Diodor. i. 36. where they always speak of 'tliu time of
2 VirjT. Geor<r. iv. 289. Ihc Nile,' or ' a good Alle,' — meaning the
3 This is a translation of the expression inundation.
used in Ejivpt for a favorahle inundation •.
Chap. XL] IRRIGATION. 889
the appearance he describes,^ of islands resembling the Cyclades
in the ^Egean Sea, it is not less certain that the great inundations
have precisely the effect he mentions ; and 1 have seen the
villages perfectly isolated, as in olden times. But this, as may
be reasonably supposed, does not happen every year ; and, as in
all ages of Egyptian history, the Nile sometimes rises to a great
height, and at others falls short of the same limit ; and a casual
observer, judging only of what he witnessed during a short stay
in the country, may form too hasty an opinion, and draw con-
clusions which longer ex^jerience would prove to be erroneous.
As soon as the canals were closed the quantity of fish col-
lected in them afforded an abundant supply to the neighboring
villages ; and, as already observed, the advantages arising from
these fisheries were of the greatest importance both to the people
and the revenue.
The land being cleared of the water, and presenting in some
places a surface of liquid mud, in others nearly dried by the sun
and the strong N. W. winds (that continue at intervals to the end
of autumn and the commencement of winter), the husbandmen
prepared the ground to receive the seed ; which was either done
by the plough and hoe, or by more simple means, according to
the nature of the soil, the quality of the produce they intended
to cultivate, or the time the land had remained under water.
When the levels were low, and the water had continued long
upon the land, they often dispensed with the plough,'^ and
probably, like their successors, broke up the ground with hoes, or
simply dragged the moist mud with bushes^ after the seed had
been thrown upon the surface ; and then merely drove a number
of cattle, asses, pigs, sheep, or goats into the field, to tread in
the grain.^
'In no country,' says Herodotus,^ 'do they gather their seed
with so little labor. They are not obliged to trace deep furrows
with the plough, to break the clods, nor to partition out their
fields into numerous forms, as other people do ; but when the
river of itself overflows the land, and the water retires again,
the}' sow their fields, driving the pigs over them to tread in the
seed ; and this being done, every one patiently awaits the harvest."
• Herodot. ii. 97. used as early as the time of Job (xxxi\.
- To this, perhaps, the tentli verse of 10).
Deut. xi. refers, where mention is made of ■* Diodor. i. 3G. Pliu. xviii. 18. Wood-
the simple process of sowinjr the seed in cut No. 464.
Egrypt, ' as a garden of herbs.' 5 Herodot. ii. 14, '*
3 A sort of harrow seems to have been „
390
THE ANCIENT EGYPTIANS.
ICilAP. XI-
On other occasions they used the plough, but were contented, as
Diodorus ^ and Columelhi^
observe, with 'tracing slight
furrows with light ploughs-
on the surface of the land ; ^
and others followed the
plough with wooden hoes^
to break the clods of the
rich and tenacious soil.
Tiie modern Egyptians-
sometimes substitute for the
hoe a machine^ called klion-
fn<]^ 'hedgehog,' which con-
sists of a cylinder studded
with projecting iron pins,,
to break the clods after the
land has been ploughed ;
but this is only used when
great care is required in the
tillage of the land ; and
they frequently dispense
with the hoe ; contenting
themselves, also, with the
same slight furrows as their
predecessors, which do not
exceed the depth of a few
inches, measuring from the
lowest part of tlie summit
of the ridge. Tliis mode of
ploughing was called by the
Romans scarificatio. The
ancient plough was entirely
of wood, and of very simple
form, like that still used
in Egypt. It consisted
of a sliai'e, two handles^ and
the pole or beam ; which last
was inserted into the loAver
i Diodor. i. 36.
- Coltiinella, du lie Rust. ii. 25.
8 Of this instniin^nt, dedicated to the
god of jfardens, I have given a remarkable
instance (' Materia Hiai'og.' pi. vi. and in
plates of the Pantheon, in this volume).
See Woodcuts No. 4()5 and No. 4()7.
•• Vifinette K, at the beginning of this
chapter.
Chap. XL]
THE PLOUGH.
391
end of the stilt, or the base of the handles, and was strengthened
by a rope connecting it with the heel. It had no coulter, nor were
wheels applied to any Egyi)-
tian plough : but it is proba-
ble that the point was shod
with a metal sock, either of
bronze or iron. It was drawn
by two oxen ; and the plough-
man guided and drove them
with a long goad, without the
assistance of reins, which are
used by the modern Egyp-
tians. He was sometimes ac-
companied by another man,
who drove the animals,^ while
he managed the two handles
of the plough ; and sometimes
the whip was substituted for
the more usual goad. The
mode of yoking the beasts was
exceedingly simple. Across
the extremity of the pole, a
wooden yoke or cross-bar,
about fifty-five inches or five
feet in lengh, was fastened b}'
a strap, the zygodesynos of the
Greeks, lashed backwards and
forwards over a prominence,
omphalos^ projecting from the
centre of the yoke, which
corresponded to a similar peg,
or knob, at the end of the pole ;
and occasionally^ in addition
to these, was a ring passing
over them, as in some Greek
chariots.^ At either end of
the yoke was a flat or slightly
' Instances of both are given in wood-
cut No. 143, vol. i. p. 372.
2 The parts, according to Homer, were
called ('I'/Ju?, tlie pole; ^uydj, the yoke;
dfiipakoi, a prominence in the centre of the
yoke, corresponding witli a peg or knob,
ecTwp, at the end of the pole ; to which it
was connected by a ring, KpiKOi, and tliea
bound liv the ^u/<;Afafiog, or strap. (II. ii,
26.S.)
392
THE ANCIENT EGYPTIANS.
[ClIAP. XI.
concave projection, of semicircular form, which rested on a
pad placed upon the withers of the animal ; and through a hole
on either side of it passed a thong for suspending the shoulder-
pieces, which formed the collar. These were two wooden bars,
forked at about half their length, padded so as to protect the
shoulder from friction, and connected at the lower end by a
strong band passing under the throat.
Sometimes the draught, instead of being from the shoulder,
was from the head, the yoke being tied to the base of the
No. 466. Yoke of an ancient plough found in a tomb. Collection of S. D'Anastasy.
Fiys. 1, 2. The back and front <if the yoke.
3. Collar or shoulder-pieces attached to the yoke.
4, 4. The pieces of matting for protecting the shoulders from friction.
horns; 1 and in religious ceremonies oxen frequently drew the
bier, or the sacred shrine, by a rope fastened to the upper part
of the horns, without either yoke or pole.
From a passage in Deuteronomy,^ 'Thou shalt not plough with
an ox and an ass together,' it might be inferred that the custom
of yoking two different animals ^ to the plough was common in
Egypt; but since no. representation of it occurs in the sculptures,
we may conclude, if it ever was done there, that it was of very
rare occurrence ; and it is probable that the Hebrew lawgiver had
in view a practice adopted by some of the people of Syria, whose
1 Woodcut No. 465.
2 Deut. x.xii. 10.
s I have often seen it done in Italy.
The cruelty of the custom is evident, the
horn of the ox wounding its companion.
Chap. XL] THE HOE. —THE AXE. 393
country the Israelites were about to occupy, rather than the land
of Egypt they had recently quitted.
The name of the plough was Jiehi ; ' ploughed land appears
to have been ar^, a word still traced in the Arabic hart, wiiich
has the same import ; and the Roman aratrum appears to indi-
cate, like the arowra, an Egyptian origin.
The hoe was of wood, and in form not unlike our letter A, with
one limb shorter than the other, and curving inwards : the longer
limb, or handle, being of uniform thickness, round, and smooth ,
and the lower extremity of the other, or the blade, being of
increased breadth, and either terminated by a sharp point, or
rounded at the end. The blade was frequently inserted into
the handle,^ and they were bound together, about the centre,
with a twisted rope. They are frequently represented in the
sculptures, and several which have been found in the tombs of
No. 467. Wooden lioes.
Fig. 1. From the sculptures. Fiy. 2. Found in a tomb.
Thebes are i)reserved in the museums of Europe. The figure of
the hoe in hieroglyphics is well known ; its alphabetic force is
an M, though the name of this instrument was in Egyptian, as
in Arabic, tore. It forms the commencement of the word mai,
' beloved,' and enters into numerous other combinations. I have
found no instance of hoes with metal blades ; nor is there
evidence of the ploughshare having been sheathed with metal ;
though, as I have already observed, probability suggests that on
some occasions the Egyptians may have adopted this simple
improvement in their implements of husbandry.
The axe had a metal blade, either bronze or iron ; and the
peasants are sometimes represented felling trees with this imple-
ment ; while others are employed in hoeing the field })reparatory
^J^g^j, 2 Woodcut No. 467.
394 THE ANCIENT EGYPTIANS. [Cha.i\ XI.
to its being sown — confirming what I before observed, that
the ancient as well as the modern Egyptians frequently dis-
pensed with the use of the plough.
There has been some doubt respecting the admission of swine
into the fields after the inundation, and considerable criticism
has been expended on the statement of Herodotus above quoted.
Some have objected that their voracious habits were more likely
to injure than to benefit the cause of the husbandman, and that
many other animals might be chosen for the purpose of treading
in the grain, without the fear of their destroying what they were
intended to preserve ; but the learned Larcher very properly
suggests that muzzling them would effectually obviate this in-
convenience, and that the historian may allude to their admission
into the fields previous to the sowing of the grain, for the purpose
of clearing the land of roots and noxious weeds, whose growth
was favored by the water of the inundation ; an opinion which
No. 468. Hoeing aud sowiug the laud, and felling trees. Thebes.
is strengthened by the representation of some pigs given in a
previous part of this work, from a tomb at Thebes, where the
introduction of water-plants seems to indicate the use for which
they were employed. Nor, indeed, considering how unclean
these animals were considered by the Egyptians — the swineherd
being deemed unworthy to intermarry with other persons — is it
likely tliat they were kept for any but agricultural purposes ;
and no one has a greater appearance of probability than that to
which I have alluded.
The heat of the climate rendered the duties of the ploughman
particularly arduous, and care was taken to provide a supply of
water, which was sometimes kept cool by suspending the skin
that held it in a tree. At Beni-Hassan a barrel is represented
placed at the extremity of the furrows, which calls to mind the
description given by Homer ^ of the ploughing scene of the shield
of Achilles, where, as soon as each ploughman arrived at the end
of the field, a man presented him with a cup of wine ; but, as
1 Horn. II. E, 541. Woodcut No. 465.
Chai'. XL] METHODS OF SOWING, 395
already observed, it seems more probable that it contained the
grain intended fen- sowing the field after the plough had passed.
Like the Romans, they usually brought the seed in a basket,^
which the sower held in his left hand, or suspended on his arm
(sometimes with a strap round his neck), while he scattered the
seed with his right ; ^ and, judging from the paintings of the
tombs, the sower sometimes followed the plough in those fields
which required no previous preparation by the use of the hoe,
or from their elevated level were free from the roots of noxious
herbs. Tlie mode of sowing was what we term ' broadcast," the
seed being scattered loosely over the surface, whether ploughed
or allowed to remain unbroken ; and in no agricultural scene is
there any evidence of drilling or dibbling. Nor was the harrow
or rake known in Egypt ; and the use of the spade was supplied
by the hoe, as it still is throughout the valley of the Nile.
Corn, and those productions which did not stand in need of
constant artificial irrigation, were sown in the open field, as in
other countries ; but for indigo, esculent vegetables, and herbs,
which required to be frequently watered, the fields were por-
tioned out into square beds like our salt pans, surrounded by a
raised border of earth to keep in the water, which was introduced
by channels from the shadoof, or poured in with buckets ; ^ and
it is probably to this method of sowing the land and turning
the water from one square to another, by pushing aside the mud
to open one and close the next with the foot, that reference is
made in a passage of Deuteronomy, already noticed.
Sometimes, as we are informed by Pliny,"* they used a dressing
of nitrous soil, which was spread over the surface — a custom con-
tinued to the present day ; but this was confined to certain crops,
and principally to those reared late in the year, the fertilizing
properties of the alluvial deposit answering all the purposes of
the richest manure.^ Its peculiar quality is not merely indicated
by its effects, but by the appearance it presents : and so tenacious
and silicious is its structure, that when left upon rock, and dried
by the sun, it resembles pottery, from its brittleness and consist-
ence. Its component parts, according to the analysis given by
Regnault, are^ — 11 water, 9 carbon, 6 oxide of iron, 4 silica,
' The Roman basket of seed contained ' Cf. Plin. xviii. 18. Macrobius uttrib-
thfee pecks or modii. (Colnm. ii. 9.) utes the use of manure to Saturn (lib. i.
" Conf. Plin. xviii. 24. c. 7).
'■- These square beds are represented in 6 ' Meraoires sur rj^ifvpte,' tome i. n.
woodcut No. 389. 351. '
^ Plin. lib. .vix. c. 5.
396
THE ANCIENT EGYPTIANS.
[Chap. XL
4 carbonate of magnesia, 18 carbonate of lime, 48 alumen = 100 ;
the quantity of silica and alumen varying according to the places
^
1^
o St'
whence the mud is taken, which frequently contains a great
admixture of sand near the banks, and a larger proportion of
argillaceous matter at a distance from the river.
Chap. XL] HUSBANDRY. 397
The same quality of soil and alluvial deposit seems to accom-
pany the Nile in its course from Abyssinia to the Mediterranean;
and though the White River is the principal stream, being much
broader, bringing a larger supply of water, and probably coming
from a greater distance than the Blue River, or Abyssinian
branch, which rises a little beyond the lake Dembea, still this
last claims the merit of possessing the real peculiarities of the
Nile, and of supplying those fertilizing properties which mark its
course to the sea.^ The White River, or western branch, likewise
overflows its banks, but no rich mud accompanies its inundation ;
and though, from the force of the stream (which brings down
numbers of large fish and shells at the commencement of its rise,
probaijly from passing through some large lakes), there is evidence
of its being supplied by an abundance of heavy rain, we may
conclude that the nature of the mountains at its source differs
considerably from that of the Abyssinian ranges.
Besides the admixture of nitrous earth, the Egyptians made
use of other kinds of dressing for certain produce ; and in those
places where the vine was cultivated on alluvial soil, we may
conclude they found the addition of gravel beneficial to that
valuable plant — a secret readily learnt from its thriving con-
dition, and the superior quality of the grape in stony soils: and
some produce was improved by a mixture of sand. Nor were
they neglectful of the advantages offered for the growth of certain
plants by the edge of the desert, which, being composed of clay
and sand, was peculiarly adapted to such as required a light soil;
and the cultivation of this additional tract, which only stood in
need of proper irrigation to become highly productive, had the
advantage of increasing considerably the extent of the arable
land of Egypt, In many places we still find evidence of its
having been tilled by the ancient inhabitants, even to the late
time of the Roman Empire; and in some parts of the Fyoom,
the vestiges of beds and channels for irrigation, as well as the
roots of vines, are found in sites lying far above the level of
the rest of the country.
The occupation of the husbandman depended much on the
produce he had determined on rearing. Those who solely culti-
vated corn had little more to do than to await the time of harvest ;
' [From what I observed in the Eiistern ot volcanic rociis in Abyssinia, and that
Desert respectinjj' the decomposition of similar rocks are not to be met with in the
basaltic rocl<s 1 infer that the mud ol' the upper course of the Bahr el Abiad, or
Nile is produced from the decomposition White River. — G. \V.]
398
THE ANCIENT EGYPTIANS.
[CuAP, XL
but many crops required constant attention, and some stood in
need of frequent artificial irrigation.
In order to give a general notion of the quality of the crops,
and other peculiarities relating to their agriculture, I shall intro-
duce the principal productions of Egypt in the two following
tables ; of which the first presents those raised after the retire-
ment of the inundation: —
Englisli Name.
Botanical Name.
Remarks.
Wheat
Barley
Beans
Peas?
Lentils
Vetches.
Lupins
Clover
A sort of
Bean.
Safflower
Lettuce .
Flax . .
Coleseed
Hemp ? .
Cummin
Coriander
French
Triticum sativum
(Arab. Kwnh.)
Hordeum vulgare
(Arab. Shayeer.)
Vicia faba . . .
(Arab. Fool.)
Pisum arvense .
(Arab. BislUeh.)
Ervum lens . .
(Arab. Ads.)
(Homraos) Clcer
arietininn. .
(Arab. Hommos.)
Lupinus Termis . .
(Arab. Termas.)
Trifolium Alexan-
drinum.
(Arab. Bersim.)
Trigonella fcenum-
grtecum.
(Arab. Helbeh.)
Lathvrus sativus
(Arab. Gilbdn.)
Dolichos lubia . .
(Arab. Loobieh.)
Carthamus tinctorius
(Arab. Kortiun.)
Lactuca sativa .
(Arab. Khus.)
Linum usitatissimum
(Arab. Kettdn. )
Brassica oleifera . 1
(Arab. Self) am. ) [
Canabis sativa. . f
(Arab, lldshecuh.))
Cumiuu7n Cyniinumi
i (Arab. Kain)uoon.)[
ICoriandrum sativum f
I (Arab. Knoi^ber-a.)}
Sown in November; reaped in begin-
ning of April, a month later than
barley; conf. Exod. ix. 32.
Sown at the same time ; reaped some
in 90 days, some in the 4th month.'
Sown in October or November; cut in
about 4 months.
Sown in the middle of November;
ripen in 90 or 100 days.
Sown in the middle or end of Novem-
ber: ripen in 100 or 110 days, or
about 10th to 20tli of March.
Id. Called tharmos in Coptic, which
is still retained in the modern Arabic
name Terinus.
Sown in beginning of October; first
crop after 60 days, second after 50
more days, third left for seed; if a
fourth crop is raised by iri'igation it
produces no seed.
The flelbeh. or Trigonella foenum-grse-
cum, sown in November; cut in
about 2 months.
Lathyrus sativus, a substitute for
clover, gathered in 60 days; seed
ripens in 110.
Sown at the same time as wheat in
November: ripens in 4 months. A
crop raised by the slmdoof in Au-
gust, gathered in about 3 mouths; its
beans for cooking in 60 days.
The flowers used for dyeing; the seeds
giving an oil. Sown middle of No-
vember; seeds ripen in 5 months.
Cultivated for oil. Sown in middle of
Novem])er; seeds ripen in .") montlis.
Sown middle of November; plucked
in 110 days.
Yields an oil. Sown middle of Novem-
ber; cut in 110 days.
Sown middle of December; cut in 4
months.
i Pliny (xviii. 7) says in tiie sixth, and wlieat in the seventh mouth after sowing.
Chap. XL]
VEGETABLE PRODUCTIONS.
399
English Name.
Botanical Name.
Remarks.
Poppy
Papaver somniferum.
Sown end of November; seeds
(Arab. AboonOin.)
ripen in April. The Arabic
name signifies fatlier (of)
Watermelon, and sev-
Cucurbita citrullus .
sleep.
eral other Cucur-
(Arab. Bateekh.)
Sown middle of December; cut
bitie.
in 90 days.
Cucnmber, and other
Cucumis sativus . .
Cut in 60 days.
Cucumidaj.
Doora
Holcns Sorghum . .
Independent of the crop raised
(Arab. Boora Say-
by the shadoof, and that dm--
fee.)
ing the inundation; sown
middle of November; ripens
in 5i months.
All these, the ordinary productions of modern Egypt, appear
to have been known to and cultivated by the ancient inhabitants;
and, according to Dioscorides, from the Helheh^ or Trigonella,
was made the ointment called by Athenseus^ Telinon. The
Carthamus tinctorms is now proved, by the discovery of its
seeds in a tomb at Thebes, to have been an old Egyptian plant ;
and there is reason to believe the coleseed to be an indigenous
production, though it may be doubted if peas and hemp were
formerly grown in the valley of the Nile.
The Carthamus was not only cultivated for the dye its flower
produced, but for the oil extracted from its seeds. The ancient
as well as the modern Egyptians also obtained oil from other
plants, as the olive, simsim or sesamum, the ciei or castor-berry
tree, lettuce, flax, and selgam or coleseed. This last, the Brassiea
oleifera of Linnaeus, appears to be the Egyptian raphanus men-
tioned by Pliny 2 as 'celebrated for the abundance of its oil,'
unless he alludes to the seemga, or Raphanus oleifer of Linnaeus,
which is now only grown in Nubia and the vicinity of the First
Cataract. The seeds of the simsim also afford an excellent oil,
and they were probably used, as at the present day, in making
a peculiar kind of cake, called by the Arabs Koosbeh, which is
the name it bears when the oil has been previously extracted.^
When only hruhed in the mill, and still containing the oil, it is
called Taheeneh ; and the unbruised seeds are strewed upon
cakes, or give their name and flavor to a coarse conserve, called
Haloweh simsemeeh. The oil of simsim (called seerif/) is consid-
ered the best lamp-oil in the country ; it is also used for cook-
iiig, but is reckoned inferior in flavor to that of the lettuce."*
1 Athen. lib. v. p. 195.
'^ Plin. xix. 5, and XV. 7.
•• Pliny shows it was inferior to the oil
3 Ibid, xviii. 10. of the cypros, since they were in the habit
400 THE ANCIENT EGYPTIANS. [CHAr. XT.
The castor-berry tree is called by Herodotus^ Sillicypriony
and the oil, klki {cici}, which he says is not inferior to that of the
olive for lamps, though it has the disadvantage of a strong, un-
pleasant smell. Pliny '-^ calls the tree cici, which, he adds, 'grows
abundantly in Egypt, and has also the names of croton, trixis,
tree sesamum, and ricinus.' The mode he mentions of extracting
the oil, by putting the seeds into water over a fire and skimming
the surface, is the manner now adopted in Egypt ; though he
says the ancient Egyptians merely pressed them after s})rinkling
them with salt. The press, indeed, is employed for tliis ].)urpose
at the present day, when the oil is only wanted for lamps ;^ but
by the other method it is more pure, and the coarser qualities
not being extracted, it is better suited for medicinal purposes.
Strabo saj'S, 'Almost all the natives of Europe used its oil for
lamps, and workmen, as well as all the poorer classes, both men
and women, anointed themselves with it,' giving it the same
name, kiki, as Plinjs which he does not confine, like Herodotus,
to the oil ; and of all those by which it was formerly known in
Egypt or Greece, no one is retained by the modern Egyptians.
It grows in every part of Upper and Lower Egypt ; but the oil
is now little used, in consequence of the extensive culture of the
lettuce, the coleseed, the olive, the carthamus, and the simsim,
which afford a better quality for burning: it is, therefore, sel-
dom employed except for the purpose of adulterating the lettuce
and other oils ; and the ricinus is rarely cultivated in any part
of the country.
Herodotus tells us the ancient Egyptians adopted both
methods of pressing and boiling the seeds, which is much more
probable than the statement of Pliny ; the choice of the two
depending, as I have observed, on the quality of the oil they
required. The cnicou, a ])lant unknown in Italy, according to
Pliny,* 'was sown in Egyjot for the sake of the oil its seeds
afforded;' the chorticon, urtica, and amaracus^ were cultivated
for the same purpose,^ and the cypros, ' a tree resembling the
ziziphus in its foliage, with seeds like the coriander, was noted in
Egypt, particularly on the Canopic branch of the Nile, for the
excellence of its oil."^ Egypt was also famed for its 'oil of bitter
of ' adiiltcratinfr the cvprinc with the scsa- ■* Plin. xxi. 15.
mine oil' (xiii. 1). " S Jhid. xxi. 11, 22.
1 Ilerodot. ii. 94. 2 piJn. w. 7. ^ Ibid. w. 7, and xxii. 13.
3 Pliny evidently had an aversion to " Ibid. xii. 24, xiii. 1, and xxiii. 4.
castor oil, in which he cannot be considered Athen. xv. p. 688.
singular. Strabo, xvii. p. 566.
CuAi'. XI.] VEGETABLE PRODUCTIONS. 401
almonds;^ and many other vegetable productions were en-
couraged for the sake of their oil,^ for making ointments, or
for medicinal purposes.
In the length of time each crop took to come to maturity,
and the exact period when the seed was put into the ground,
much, of course, depended on the duration of the inun(kition, the
state of the soil, and other circumstances ; and in the two accom-
panying tables I have been guided by observations made on the
crops of modern Egypt, which, as may be supposed, differ in few
or no particulars from those of former days ; the causes that
intkience them being permanent and unvarying.
' The plants of the summer season,' as I have elsewhere ob-
served,^ 'which succeed the above mentioned, either immediately
or after a short interval, are produced solely by artihcial irriga-
tion.' 'But the use of the shadoof is not confined to the produc-
tions of summer ; it is required for some in spring, and frequently
throughout the winter, as well as in autumn, if the inundation
be deficient ; ' and the same sj^stem was, of course, adopted by
the ancient Egyptians. The chief productions sown the half
year before and during the inundation are enumerated in the
table below. Herbs and esculent roots were cultivated in great
abundance by the Egyptians, experience having taught them
that a vegetable diet was highly conducive to health in their
climate ; and the sculptures, the authority of Pliny,'^ the fact of
four thousand persons being engaged in selling vegetables at
Alexandria^ when that place was taken by Amer, and tlie habits
of the people at the present da}^ show how partial they always
were to their use. The same may be remarked of the Italians;
and it is a curious fact that several Roman families of note
received their names from the cultivation of certain pulse .^
1 Plin. xiii. 1. been flavored with an essence or volatile
- In the former place, I have mentioned oil; but it does not belong' to the class of
some ointment preserved in a vase at stearoptenes, like attar of roses, or the
Alnwick Castle, upon which 1 have lately precious Oriental perfumes.' I may also
received some observations by Dr. Ure, here introduce the analysis which Dr. Ure
who says, ' In consistence, this ung'uent is has favoi'ed me with of a bronze chisel :
intermediate between tallow and hoy's lard. of 100 parts, 94-0 are copper, 5*9 tin, O-I
It has an orantre-yellow color. Its specific iron = 100.
gravity is 0..'5in ; and this density would ■^ ' Topotjraphj' of Thebes and General
seem to indicate the presence of rosin. It View of Epypt,' p. 263.
gives a <i:rcas_y stain on paper, not remov- ■* Conf. Plin. xxi. 15.
able by heat. It is soluble in hot oil of 5 PHny says, 'All kinds of pulse appear
tui'pentine and in hot alcohol, but it \n-c- above the ground, in Egypt, on the third
cipitates from the latter in the cold. From day ' (xviii. 7).
these results I am of opinion that it is of 6 As the Lentuli, Fabii, Pisones.
the nature of a fixed fat, which may have
VOL. n. 26
402
THE ANCIENT EGYPTIANS.
[CuAP. XL
English Name.
Botanical Name.
Kice 1
Doora
Byood or autumn
Doora.
Yellow Doora . .
Millet
Cotton
Shnsim, Sesame . .
Indigo
Eenneh . .
Watermelon
Onion (Leek, and
Garlic).
Bdmia
Oryza sativa . .
( Arab, liooz or
Arouii. )
IIolcus Sorghum ,
( Arab. Doora
Kay dee. )
Holcus Sorghum .
(Arab. D. Byood
or Dhueeree.)
Holcus Sorghum .
(Arab. D. Saf-
fra.)
Holcus saccharatus
(Arab. Dokhn.)
(jossypium herb
aceum.-
(Arab. Koton.)
Sesamum orientale
(Arab. Si)nsi))t.)
Indigofera argen-
tea.3
(Arab. Neeleh.)
Remarks.
Lawsonia spinosa
et inermis.
And other Cucur-
bitae. (Arab.
Bateekh, &c.)
Allium Cepa. &c.
(Arab. Buasal.)
Hibiscus esculen-
tus, or perhaps
only the H. praj-
Cut in T months :
in the Delta.
in October. Grown
Sown at beginning or end of April;
cut at rise of Nile in 100 days. Its-
seed sown as Byood.
Sown middle of August ; cut in 4
months; but its seed, no longer pro-
lific, is all used for bread.
Sown when the Nile is at its height,
in middle of August, and banked up
from the inundation; ripens in 120-
days.
Only in Nubia and the Oases: sown at
same lime as the Doora.
Planted in March, and summer. In
good soil some is gathered the 5th
month.
Gives an oil. Ripens in about 100
days. Sown 10 days after the Doora
Byood.
Sown in April: the first crop in 70
days; second in 40; third in 30;
fourth in 25, in the first year: it is
then left without water all the winter,
and watered again in March. Then
the first crop is cut after 40 days;
second in 30; third in 30; and the
same in the third year. After three
years it is renewed from seed. The
first year's crop is the best.
Used for the dye of its leaves.
During the rise of the Nile and in
Marcli, on the sandbanks of the
river.
Sown in August.
Mostly in gardens. Gathered in 50 or
60 days, in September or October.
Many other vegetables were raised
at different seasons, by artificial irri-
gation.
Having ill the preceding tables shown the seasons when the
])rincipal productions of Egypt were raised, I proceed to enume-
rate those which appear front good authority to liave been grown
by the ancient Egyptians. Wheat,^ barley,'* doora.,° i)eas,^ beans,"
1 It is not certain tliat rice was culti- iiuli^'o.
vatetl I'oriiicrly in Egypt. [There is no ■* Exod. i\.
evidence of it, and none has been found. in tlie toniljs.
— S. B.] 5 Tlio seeds foiim
2 Has not been found in Egypt. c gaid to he tonne
3 The l)lue color of the selvages of the ' Hcrodot. ii. 37.
ancient linen may have been produced by xviii. 12.
31, 32, ;ind the seed found
in the tombs,
in the tombs.
Diodor. i. 89.
Plin.
.HAP. XI. 1
VEGETABLE PRODUCTIONS.
403
lentils,^ hommos,^ gilhdn,^ carthainiis,* lupins,* bdmia,^ fiflU^
simsim,'' indigo,^ sinapis or mustard,'^ origanum,^^ siiccory,^^
flax,i2 cotton,^" cassia senna,^* colocynth,^^ cummin, ^^ coriander, i"
several cucurbitse, ' cucumbers, melons, leeks, onions, garlic,' ^*
lotus,^^ nelumbium,2<> cyperus esculentus,^^ papyrus,^ and other
cj^peri,^^ are proved to liave been cultivated by them ; and the
learned Kircher mentions many productions of the country,^*
principally on the authority of Apuleius and early Arab
writers. But the greater part of these last are wild plants ;
and indeed, if all the indigenous productions of Egypt (which
unquestionably grew there in ancient as well as modern times)
were enumerated, a large catalogue might be collected, those
of the desert alone amounting to nearly 250 species. For
though the Egyptian Flora is limited to about 1300, the
indigenous plants constitute a large proportion of that number.
1 Vh-^. Geortr. i. 228. Plin. xviii. 21 :
' I^uo geuera ejus in vEjiypto.' Pint, de Isid.
s. 68. Aul. (jiell. xvii. 8, and in the tombs.
2 Oicer arietinnm.
3 Lathyrus sativus.
* Found in the tombs.
5 Hibiscus esculentus.
6 Baphanus sativus, var. edulis, of Lin-
naeus. Herodot. ii. 125. Plin. xv. 7, and
xix. 0.
' Plin. XV. 7.
8 Cloths found dyed with it.
9 Plin. xiv. 8: 'Semen (sinapis) opti-
mum ^u:vptium.'
1" Ibid. "xix. 8.
11 Ibid. xix. 8, xx. 8, and xxi. 15.
Cichorium i?itybus, Linn. Pliny calls it
' Erraticuni intubum.'
i-i Evod. ix. 31, &c.
13 Plin. xiv. 1, &c.
1^ An iniliji'enons plant, called b the
Arabs Senna mekkeh : the best is broucrht
from Ethiopia and the interior of Africa.
la An indigenous plant.
16 Plin. xx. 15. Seeds used on bread in
Ea:;V'pt. S'S at the present dav (ibid. xix. 8).
1^ Plin. XX. 20. In Numbers xi. 7, the
manna was compared to coriander seed,
which the Israelites had seen in Egypt.
The name of manna, properly men or min,
signifies ' what : ' for ' when the children of
Israel saw it, they said to one another,
What (is) this? (it is manna) for they
wist not what it was.' (Exod. xvi. 15.)
'And the house of Israel called the name
thereof wAaZ {manna).' (ver. 31.)
i<> Numbers xi. 5.
19 Buds found in the tombs. Herodot
ii. 92, &c, Plin. xiii. 7.
20 Herodot. ii. 92. It now only grows
in India. It is called by Pliny Colocasia
as well as Cyamon (xxi. 15).
-1 The seeds found in the tombs.
22 Plin xiii. 11. Herodot. ii. 92. Isaiah
xix. 7. Found dried in the tombs.
23 Indigenous. (Plin. xxi. 18.)
24 ^4n<ia»ias, or minor Centaurea. Asout,
or Plantago major. Mene, or Satyrion,
called Panion. Orfehioke, or Opithebioca,
Pentaphjilum. Nemenestphe, or Nesphe,
Chanijiepythys. Anesen, or Artemisia.
Sapht, or Hyoscyamus. Sephseph, or
Sophsoph [Safsafxn Arabic is the willow
— G.W.] ( Arab. Zaraivend), Aristolochia ?
Linn. SemmeAri, or Samur, Chamselea.
Eminioti, or .4 «c/«/)ias, probably the Osher,
or Asclepias gigantea. Peniptetnpht, Ver-
bena ? Antouerm'bous, Lingua bovis {Lis-
san-e'ior), Borrago officinalis? Linn.
Asterope, or Marrubium, or Prasion
( Phraseeon), ISfarrubiuni Alyssum, Linn.
Suletho, or Squill, Scilla maritimi (Bvssal
el far). Semet. or Nasturtium? Taborin
(rhamomile) (Arab. Jiabooneg), Santolina
fragrantissima, ForsTc. Stempht (Sanjiui-
naria), Pol^'gonum. Palalia, or Cycla-
minus. Et'hooui, or Venus's Hair, Adian-
thum Capillus Veneris, Linn. Nisine, or
Heliotrope. Menipht, or Dictaranus. Lo-
tometra, or Lotus, Nymphwa Lotus, Linn.
Soumonas, or Mint {Naanaa), Mentha
Kahirina, Forsk. Sotni, or Absynthium
Marinum, or Seriphium. Aphlopyoi, or
Mercurialis Herba. Thodon, or liryonia,
Vitisalba. Py^fi^jre, or Scolopendra. Aga-
thosdemon, or Cyclaminus. Pantagatha,
or Origanum. Aimeos, or wild ]\Iyrtle.
Dentofobon, or Coscuta. Motnioutin, or
Portulaca (Oleracea?). Iratoria, or Be-
tonica. Ocheon, or Coriander. Anysi, or
Salvia. (Kircher, Prod, et Lex. Sup. c. 8,
and Qidipus.)
404
THE ANCIENT EGYPTIANS.
[Chap. XL
and few countries have a smaller quantily introduced from
abroad than Kgy\)t, which, except in a few instances, has
remained contented with the herbs and trees of its own soil ;
and tiie plants of the desert may be considered altogether indi-
genous, without, I believe, one single exception. It is true, as
1 have observed, that these last belong to ancient as well as
modern P]gy])t, but I <h) not think it necessary to enter into any
description of them in the })resent work; and shall content
myself with a brief enumeration of those menti(nied ])y Pliny,
together with the most striking characteristics or properties he
ascribes to them. I have arranged them in the order in which
they are given by the naturalist, not according to their })otanical
classification, some being unknown; and in assigning the bo-
tanical names, I have received much assistance from the Paris
edition of Pliny, by Desfontaincs, from which 1 have in few
instances found reason to dissent.
Name from Pliny.
A plant producing
ladanum.
Tree i)rodiicingMy-
robalaniun, My-
robalanus.
Palma,'- called Ad-
ipso.s.
Sphagiios, Bryou,
or Spliacos.
Cyi)ros
Maron
lib.
cap.
xil. 17
xii. 21
xxili. 5
xii. 22
xii. 2:3,281
xiii. 1 y
xxiv. 6 J
xii. 24
xiii. 1
XX i' 4
xii. 24
Botauipal Name.
Cistus ladaniferus
I j Moringa aptera ? ' ,
f ( Arab. Yessur, fr i ic '
fidh-r/fidlee.)
Parmelia parietina ?
(Arab. Sher/eret
e'ncdileh.)
Lawsonia sjjinosa et
inerniis.
(Arab. Ilcrnch.)
Teucrium Iva ? .
(Arab. Mlnkeh f)
Remarks.
' The plants wliich produce
ladanum, introduced into
Ecypt by the Ptoleniies.'
I'Uh.
• Producing a fiuit from which
an oil or ointment was ex-
tracted. (; rowing in the
Thebaid.' I'lin.
' (fathered before ripe ; that
which is left is called Phre-
nicobalanus, and is intoxi-
cating.' Plin.
' Said to grow in Egypt' I'lin.
A sort of lichen liiowing on
trees. Oil extracted from it.
Plin. xiii. 1.
' Bearing leaves like the Zizy-
jdius. Cooked in oil to make
the ()inlm(!nt called Cyprus.
'I'he best grown about Cano-
pus. Leaves dye the haii. "
Plin.
There are foxu* or five other
species of Teucrium in Egypt.
' Tliure a|i()i;ars mure rcusou to suppose it
the moran^fa than the lialanites .^Jayptiaca, or
Myrnhnlariva Ch.fhuluH (Aral), nrlior EqU-cq.
iVnet. Lahth). They both f^row in the E^'y])-
tiaii desert. The former is called Yessur: the
seeds, I'ontnincd in a lonj; p()<l, are called
JHab-'ihdli. This and the Balanites are very
ditfercmt; but Pliny's description is very in-
dctini''', anil mitrht apply to one or the other.
'I'hi'ophi-astus and Dioscoriiles neither agree
with caeh other, nor with Pliny.
'^ Pliny ap|)e;ns to mention two trees whirii
produced myrohjilanum, the niyrol):danus and
the 'palma cpia' icrt myrol):ilanum.' ( l.il).
xxiii. .").) The fruit of this last beinjr without
any stone, was owin<r to their j,''alhcrinrr it
when vountr. When full grown, it was called
Pha'uleo-balanus.
Chap. XI. I
PLANTS FKOM PLINY.
405
Name from Pliny.
Elate (Abies?) Pal-
ma, or Spathe.
Amygdalus, Aluioud
Palma, Palm . . .
lib. cap.
Myxa
Ficus ^gyptia .
{Ceraunia Siliqua) .
Persica or Peach ,
xii. 25
xii. 28
xiii. 1
xiii. 4
Xlll.
xxiii.
Cuci
xiii. 8
xiii. 9
XV. 13
xiii. 9
Botanical Name.
Amyris Opobalsa-
mum.
(Arab. Belisdn.)
Amygdalus commu-
nis. (Arab. Loz.)
Phoenix dactylifera.
(Arab. Nukhl.)
CordiaMyxa,Sebeste-
na domestica. Vlpln.
( Arab. Mokhdyt. ]
Ficus Sycomorus
(Arab. Gimmayz. )
Ceratonia Siliqua .
(Arab. Kharooh.)
Amygdalus Persica ,
(Arab. Ehokh.)
Remarks.
Balsam in Egypt, according to
Dioscorides and Strabo, till
lately cultivated at Helio-
polis.
' Of use for ointments.' Plln.
It is supposed to be the
sheath of the palm flowers.
Dloscor. i. 15U. (Arab.
Sabdt, conf. Spathr.)
'Oil of bitter almonds made
in Egypt.' Pliii.
' Thebaic palms.' Plin. xxiii.
4.
' Wine made from tiie fruit in
Egypt.' riin.
' Fruit growing on the stem
itself.' Plln. and Athen.
Deipn. ii. p. 5L
Locust tree, or Kharoob, said
by Pliny not to grow in
Egypt. It is now an Egyp-
tian tree.
Pliny rejects the idle tale of
the peach being a poisonous
fruit introduced by the Per-
sians into Egypt (lib. xv.
13. ) I The apricot grows in
the oases, especially in the
Western Oasis, and in the
little oases. In the first of
these places I found it in
blossom in the middle of
February. It also grows at
Farafieh, in the Western
desert. — G. W. |
'Like to a palm, but with
spreading branches. Fruit
fills a man's hand; of a
brown yellow color. That witliiu large and hard: turned and made into pulleys
or sail rings. The nucleus within it eaten when young; exceedingly hard when
dry (and) ripe.' [The name kuko in the hieroglyphics has been supposed to
mean the coco-nut palm, but it must be the Hyphwne Thebaica. And the coco
does not, and will not, grow in Egypt. — G. W. 1
Hyphsene Thebaica.
(Arab. Bom.)
Spina .Egyptia, the
Acanthus of He-
r Q d o t u s a n d
Strabo.
Quercus, Oak.
xiii. 9.11 \
xxiv. 11,12 I
Mimosa Nilotica .
Arab. Sont.)
Quercus
' Seed pods used for tanning.'
'Produces gum.' PUn. ;
Athen. xv. p. 680. Groves
of it at Thebes, Memphis,
and Abydus: the last two
still remain.
' About Thebes, where the
Persica, olive (and spina)
grow.'- PUn. The oak is
now unknown in Egypt.
1 Pliny appears to have confounded the
Peach and Persea tof,'-ether in lib. xii. 9. In
hb. XV. -13, he is evidently speaking of the
peach.
2 In this sentence, 'Circa Thebas htec
(spina) ubi el quercus, et Persica et oliva,' on
tlie authority of Theophrastus (who says, lib.
iv 3, ' Silva ingens circa agrum Thebanum
est, ubi et robur, ct Persea, et olea '), the
Pei'sica should be Persea ; supposed to be the
Balanites ^gyptiaca. The trees now grow-
ing at Thebes are principally tlie Mimosa
Nilotica, Tulh, Sellem, and Albida [Sodada
decidua, which I met with at Thebes and
406
THE ANCIENT EGYPTIANS.
[Chap. XL
Name from Pliny.
(Persea)
Oliva, Olive
lib. cap.
Botanical Name.
Balanites ^Egypti-
aca (Arab. Euleey,
f met. Lalob. ) .
Remarks.
Grows in the Eastern desert
of the Thebaid. Descr.
de VEgypte. Bot, pi. 28,
fig. 1.
xiu. y / : Olea Europaea . . ' The olives of Egypt very
XV. 3 5 (Arab. Zaytoon.) fleshy, but with little oil."'
Plin. XV. 3. This is very
true. Strabo says, ' The
Arsinoite nome alone (ex-
cepting the gardens of Alex-
andria) produces the olive.
The oil is very good if carefully extracted; if not, the quantity is great, but with
a strong odor' (lib. xvii. p. 556). [The olive is much cultivated in the gardens
of the oases; but the oil, roughly extracted, is strong and bad. The olives are
bruised between two stones, and the oil has salt added to it. In the Wad e'
Dakhleh they have oil pressed only by the hand, near the fire; this makes a
better quality of oil. The olives are about one inch in length, as in the gardens
of the Convent of St. Anthony in the Eastern desert, where some are even
larger. — G. W. ]
Rhamnus ' Spina
Christi, or R.
Nabeca, Forsk.
(Arab. J^ebk.)
xiii. 11,12 I Cyperus papyrus,^
xxiv. 11 J {Ara.h Berdi?)
Pruuus, ^Egyptia
Papyrus or Byblus,
' Near Thebes.
Strabo, xvii. p. 550.
Medeenet Haboo], and sycamore. Tlie wood
Pliny mentions was at some distance from the
Nile": but there must be an error in his ex-
pression, 300 stades (about 37 miles) from the
river. I nave introduced the Persea as well as
the Peach. The former, if it be really the
£gleeg, is now only found in Southern
Ethiopia, and in the deserts south of the lati-
tude of Ombos and E'Sooan; and indeed it
appears, even in the time of the Romans, that
care was required for its preservation in the
valley of Ejrypt, since a law was made by
them against cutting down the Persea.
' Pliny's description does not altogether
agree with the Bhamnus, as he says the
Primus resembles the Spina or Acacia, espe-
cially in its feathery leaves, which when
touched fall, and rise again. This calls to
mind the sensitive plant, or Mimosa sensitiva ;
but it is unknown in Egj'pt. [It is only found
as a bush in Ethiopia, where it abounds by the
river-side. — G. W.] I thou<;ht Pliny luight
have had in view the Sodada decidua, or
Tonthoh ; but I am inclined to refer his prunus
to the Nabeca. [The R. Nabeca was the Lotus
of Homer's Lotophagi. — G. W.]
1 [This is the Ctjperus papyrus which, like
the Nelumbium, is uo longer a native of
Egypt. It now only grows in the Anapus,
near SjTacuse, and it is said to have been
found in a stream on the coast of Syria, as in
Pliny's time (xiii. 11). Herodotus is wrong
in callin<r it an annual plant. The use of the
pith of its triangular stalk for paper made it
a very valuable plant ; and the right of grow-
ing the best quality, and of selling the papyrus
made from it, belonijcd to the "-overnment.
It was particularly cultivated in the Sebennytic
nome, and various qualities of the paper were
made. It is evident that other Cyperi, and
particularly the Cyperus dives, were sometimes
confounded with the Papyrus, or Byblus
hieraticus of Strabo; and wdien we read of its
beinji' used for mats, sails, baskets, sandals,
anil other common purposes, we may conclude
that this was an inferior kind mentioned bj'
Strabo; and sometimes a common Cyperus,
which grew wild, as many still do, was thus
employed in its stead. It is, however, evident
that a variety of the papyrus was so used, men
being represented on the monuments making
small boats of it ; and we may conclude this
was a coarser and smaller kind not adapted
for paper. The best was grown with jrreat
care. Pliny says the papyrus was not foiuid
about Alexandria, because it was not cultivated
there ; and the necessity of this is shown by
Isaiah's mention of ' the paper reeds by the
brooks . . . and everything soivn by the
brooks.' (Is. xix. 7.) This prophecy is still
more remarkable from its declaring that the
papyrus shall no longer grow in the country;
that it ' shall wither, and be driven away, and
be no more.' Thcophrastus is correct in say-
inir it jrrew in shallow water ; or in marshes,
accordinj:' to Pliny : and this is represented on
the monuments, where it is placed at the side
of a stream, or in irrigated lands. Pliny
describes the mode of making the paper (xiii.
11), hv cutting thin slices of the pith and lay-
in;^- them in rows ; and these being crossed
with other slices, the whole was made to
adhere by great pressure. — G. W.]
Chap. XI.]
PLANTS FROM PLINY.
407
Name from Pliny.
Lotus
Punicuin malum or
Grauatum, Pome-
granate.
Tamarix, Myrice,
Tamarisk . . .
Ferula
lib. cap.
xiii.117
xxiv. 2
xiii. 19
xiii. 21 )
xxiv. 9 )
j xiii. 22 )
} XX. 23 (
Botanical Name.
Nymphsea Lotus ^ ,
(Arab. Beshnin.) .
Punica Granatum
(Arab. lioomdu.)
Tamarix Gallica
(Arab. Tar/a.)
Ferula communis ?
or Bubon tortuo-
sum? (The Cryth-
mum Pyrenaicum
of Forskal.) (Arab.
Shebet e' Gebel.)
Remarks.
The flower called Balaus-
tium.' Plin. It is the an-
cient rhodon or rose, which
was used for its dye, and gave
its name to the island of
Rhodes. It is possibly on the,
reverse of the coins of that
island[in their archaic style,
but not on those of later
times, when the true rose is
always represented.— G. W. ]
Called also Myrice, or wild
brya, very abundant in
Egypt and Syria.' ' Brya, or
bryonia, commonly called
Arbor infelix.' PUn.
Knotted and hollow stem,
very light, good for matches.
Some call the seed Thupsia.'
Plin. Two kinds, like the
anethum. A large umbelli-
ferous plant, supposed to be
a sort of wild fennel.
1 In lib. xiii. c. Ifi, Pliny mentions the
Thya tree grbwing in the Oasis of Amnion and
the Cyrenaica, on the authority of Tlieo-
plu'astus, which he says was known to Homer;
its wood was very durable, and was used for
rafters in temples.
2 [This Nymphaa Lotus arrows in ponds
and small channels in the Delta during the
inundation, which are dry during the rest of
the year; but it is not found in the Nile itself.
It is nearly the same as our wliite water-lily.
Its Arabic name is nufdr, or inldfer, or
beshnin; the last being the ancient pi-sshnn,
or pi-shneen, of the hieroglyphics. There are
two varieties — the white, and tliat with a
bliii<h tinge, or the Nymphcea ccerulea. The
Buddhists of Tibet and others call it nenuphar.
Though the favorite flower of Egyi^t, there is
no evidence of its having been sacred; but
the god Xefer-Atum bore it on his head, and
the name nufar is probably related to nofar,
'good,' and connected with his title. It was
thought to be a flower of Hades, or Araenti ;
and on it also Harpocrates is often seated. He
was the Egyptian Aurora, or day-spring; not
the jrod of silence, as the Greeks "supposed, but
figured with his finger in his mouth, to sliow
one of the habits of childhood of which he was
the emblem. Hence he represented the l)e-
ginning of day, or the rise and infancy of the
sun, wliich was typically portr.ayed" rising
every morning from that flower, or from the
water; and this may have given rise to the
notion of Proclus that the lotus flower was
typical of the sun. Eratosthenes also says
this son of Isis was the 'god of day.' The
Egyptian mode of indicating silence was by
placing the ' hand on the mouth ' (.Job xxiv. 9).
The frog was also an emblem ' of man as yet
in embryo,' as Horapollo and the Egyptian
monuments show. The lotus flower was
always presented to guests at an Egyptian
party; and garlands were put rounti tiicir
heads and necks; — the ' multaeque in froiite
coronge.' (Hor. Od. i. 26 and 38; ii. 7; iii.
10; iv. 11. Athenceus, xv. Ovid, Fast. v.
Anacreon, ode iv.) It is evident that the
lotus was not borrowed from India, as it was
the favorite plant of Egypt before the Iliniloos
had established th(!ir religion there.
Besides the seeds of the lotus, poor people
doubtless used those of other plants for making
bread, like the modern Egyptians, who used
to collect the small grains of the Mesembry-
anthenmm nodiflorurn for this purpose ; and
Diodorus (i. 80) says the roots and stalks of
water-plants were a great article of food among
tlie lower classes of Egyptians.
Perhaps the Nymphcea Nelumbo, or Nelum-
bium, wiiich is common in India, but which
grows no longer in Egypt. And the cai-c
taken in planting it formerly seems to show it
was not indigenous in Egypt. Crocodiles and
the Nelunibium are represented, with the Nile
god, on the large statue in the Vatican at
Rome, and in many Roman-Egyptian sculp-
tures ; but it is reniarkal)lc that no representa-
tion of the Nelumbivm occurs in the sculptures
of ancient Egypt, thoujih the common Nyi.i-
phme Lotus occurs so often. Pliny calls it
Colocasia, as well as Cyanon (xxi. 15). Dr.
Pickering's ' Phys. Hist, of Man,' p. 368, &c.
— G.W.]
408
THE ANCIENT EGYPTIANS.
[Chap. XI.
Name from Pliny.
Capparis
Sari
Vitis, Vine
Cici, Croton,Trixis,
or Sesamum . .
Kaphanus
Chorticon, a Grass,
Sesama ....
Urtica, called Cnec-
iiuum, orCnidium
PyrusAlexandrina, )
Pear of Alex'dria, )
Ficus, Fig . . .
Myrtus, Myrtle
lib. cap.
23
23
xiv. 3
xvi. 18
;M
XV.
xix.
XV.
XV.
XV.
xxii.
7
7
7
13
XV. 15
XV. 18
Botanical Name.
Capparis spinosa
(Arab. Lussuf.)
Cyperus dives? or C.
fastigiatus?
(Arab. Dees.)
Vitis vinifera . .
(Arab. Eneb.)
Kicinus communis .
(Arab. Kharwah.)
Rapbaniis oleifer, or
tlie Brassica olei-
fer.
(Arab. Seemga, or
the Selgam f)
The Caper. The fruit of the
Egyptian caper, or Lussuf,
is very large, like a small
cucumber, about 2^ inches
long, wliich is eaten by the
Arabs.
T/ieophr. iv. 9. ' It grows on
the banks of the Nile, with
a Iiead (coma) like the
papyrus, and is eaten in
the same manner.' Piin.
Pliny says that no trees, not
even vines, lose their leaves
about Memphis and Ele-
pliantine. (Lib. xvi. 21.)
Castor-berry tree, or Palma
Christi. ' Oil extracted
from it abounds in Egypt.'
Plin.
' Oil made from its reeds in
Egypt.' Plin. It is proba-
bly the Seemga or Raphanus
oleifer, and not the sativus,
that he alludes to. He may
perhaps have had in view
the Selgam (Brassica olei-
fer), or coleseed, so common
throughout Egypt. The
Seemga is now confined to
Nubia and the southern ex-
tremity of the Thebaid.
' Oil extracted from it.' Plin.
' Cultivated for its oil.'
' Giving an oil.' ' The Alex-
andrian the best quality.'
'Used also medicinally.'
Plin. Supposed to be a
nettle.
Perhaps of Greek introduc-
tion.
It is a singular fact that the
small fruit of the wild fig
of the Egyptian desert, and
of Syria, is called by the
Arabs Kottayn, since Pliny
says, ' the small Syrian figs
are called Cottana.' (Lib.
xiii. c. 5. ) The tree is called
Hnmdt.
XV. 29 1 ) Myrtus communis . ' The myrtle of Egypt is the
xxi. 11 S (Arab, ^s, or Jfe?-- most odoriferous.' Plin.
sia.) and Athen. xv. It is now
only grown in gardens. Pliny in another place says, ' The flowers of Egypt have
very little odor' (xxi. 7),^ probably on tlie authority of Theophrastus. Hi.st.
Plant vi. 6; De Cans. Plant, vi. 27.
Sesamum orientale.
(Arab. Simsim.) .
Urtica pilulifera . .
(Arab. Fiss el Kv-
lab. )
Pyrus communis ? .
(Arab. Koomittree.
Ficus Carica . . .
(Arab. Tin.)
Kemarks.
1 According to Pliny, ' the cherry-tree
could not he produced in Egypt by any means.'
(Lib. xy. c. 25.) It is not known there now.
2 Pliny contradicts himself when he says,
'in ^gypto minimo odorati flores, qiiia
nebulosus et roscidus aer est a Nilo flumine,'
having before stated (lib. v. 9) that the same
river alone, of all others, ' nullas expirat auras ; '
and (lib. xvii. 2) ' ealidus semper aer est in
^gypto : ' and the reason he assigns for the
CnAi'. XL]
PLANTS FJIOM I'LIM'.
409
Name from Pliny.
Calanms, Keed .
Hordeum, Barley
Triticum, Wheat
Zea. . . .
Olyra . . .
Tiphe . . .
Faba, Beans .
Lens, I^entiLs
I>inum, Flax
Gossypion, Cotton
Aron
Aris
Allium, Garlic . .
Cepa, Onion . . .
Porrum, Leek . .
Cuniinum Cummin
Origanum
1
lib. cap.
36 1
XVUl.
xviii.
XVUl.
xviii.
XVUl.
xviii.
XVUl.
xix.
XIX.
xxiv.
XIX.
XX.
10
11
12
12
1
5
16
xxiv. 16
xix. 6
xix. 6
xix.
6
XIX.
XX,
XXV.
17 [
Botauical Name,
Arundo don ax, and
Arundo Isiaca.
(Arab. Kuastib, and
Boos. )
Hordeum vulj^are.
(Arab. SJiuyir.)
Triticum sativum.
(Arab. Kumh.)
Triticum Zea , f
Holcus Sorghum ? J
(Arab. Doora. ) 1
Triticum Spelta ? [
Vicia Faba . . . .
(Arab. Fool.)
Ervum Lens . . .
{ Arab. Atz or ^Idduz)
Linum usitatissimum
(Arab. Kettdii.)
Gossypium herba-
ceura.
(Arab. Koton.)
Arum Colocasia ? . .
(Arab. Kolkds.)
Arum Arisarum ?
Allium sativum , .
(Arab. Tom.)
Allium Cepa . , .
(Arab. Ihtssnl.)
Allium Porrum . .
(Arab. Korrdt.)
Cuminum Cyminum,
and Nigella sativa.
(Arab. Kammoon-
abiad and Kani-
moonaswed. )
Origanum ^gyptia-
cum. (Arab. Bar-
dakoosh.)
Remarks.
' Used by many nations for
arrows, so that half tlie
world has been conquered
by reeds.' Plin.
' The Egyptians make a me-
dicinal decoction of olyra
for children, which they call
Athara.' Plin. xxii. 25.
' With a prickly stalk.' Plin.
' Two kinds of lentils in
Egypt.' Plin.
' Four kinds, — the Tanitic,
Pelusiac, Butic, and Tenty-
ritic. ' Plin.
'Called Gossypion, or Xylon:
the cloths named from it
hence called Xylina.' Plin.
'About the size of a squill;'
' with a bulbous root'
Plin.
'Like the Aron, but smaller;
the root being the size of an
olive,' Plin.
' Both ranked by the Egyp-
tians among gods, taking
1 an oath,' Plin.
'The best kind is in Egypt.'
Plin.
Pliny speaks of two, one whiter
than the other, used for the
same purpose, and put upon
cakes of bread at Alexan-
dria. The white and black
Cuminum are called by the
Arabs Kainnion-abiad and
Kammoon-asived ; the latter
is the Nigella sativa.
Heracleotic.
deficiency of scent in Egyptian flowers would
ratiier tend to increase than diminish it.
Herodotus (ii. 19) and Diodorus {i. 38) say
the same of the Nile. The words of the
former are, ' The Nile is the only river which
does not produce cold winds; ' "of the latter,
' Tlie Nile is the only river about which clouds
never collect, cold winds never blow, and
where the air is not thickened (by fogs) : ' but
the^e statements are not borne out^ by f\ict.
Some flowers in Egypt, in certain situations
particularly, have a very strong scent, as the
bean, which is much more powerful than in
Europe. Those of the class Pentandria (a
very extensive one in nature) ma}' be con-
sidered as having less scent than in Europe;
but this class, it is true, does not contain the
most fragrant species of plants; and many of
the Syngenesia (as well as Didyncmiia) have a
very powerfid scent, particularly tlie Artemi-
sias, the Santolina, and the Eobl, a kind of
Inula.
I Pliny says (lib. xvi. 40), 'Cedar wood
was used by the kings of Egypt and Syria for
want of fir (abies) : ' bi t he does not state that
it grew ■ n Egypt.
410
THE ANCIENT EGYPTIANS.
[Chap. ZCI.
Kame from Pliny.
yinapis, Mustard
Cicliorium, or Intu-
bus erraticus . .
Seris
Anisum, Aniseed .
Coriandriim . . .
[Papaver nigrum .
lib. cap.
XX.
xxi.
XX.
5$
XX. 17
XX. 20
XX. 18
color.
Botanical Name.
Remarks.
Sinapis juncea . .
(Arab. Khar del, or
Kubbr. )
Cichorium Intybus .
(Arab. SIrUivrieh.)
Ciclioriura Endivia ?
[Arab. Hendebeh.)
Pinipinella Anisum .
[Arab. Yensoon.)
Coriandrura sativum.
(Arab. Kuzber, or
Koozbareh.)
Papaver somniferum.
(Arab. Aboo-nom.)
Tlie best seed is the Egyp-
tian. Called also Napy,
Thaspi, and Saurion.' Plin.
' In Egypt the wild endive is
< called Cichorium; the gar-
den endive, Seris.' Plin.
The Egyptian is the best
quality after the Cretan.'
Piin.
The best is from Egypt."
Plin.
Its opium is exported from
Egypt, and is often adulte-
rated at Alexandria. The
wild poppy is the Khoeas of
the Greeks. {Plin. xix. 8.)
It is so called from its red
The seeds of the poppy, so freely used in Greek cookery
Buceros or Foenum (
Graecum . . . (
(Htlenium) . , .
Amaracus
(Athenoeus jmssim,) have no soporific properties. — G.W.
Melilotus
Eosa, Eose .
Viola, Violet
Colocasia, or Cya-
mus, or Faba
^gyptia . . .
Anthalium
XXI. 7 /
xxiv. 19 )
xxi. 10, 21
xxi. 11, 22
xxi. 11
xxi. 11
xxi. 11
xxi. 1.5
xxi. 15, 29
Trigonella F(t'num
Grsecum.
(Arab. Helbeh.)
Teucrium Creticum ?
Origanum Majorana.
Trifolium Melilotus
Indica.
(Arab. Bekrak or
Nafal f)
Rosa centifolia . .
(Arab. Werd.)
Viola odorata . . .
(Arab. Benefsig.)
Xymphsea Nelumbo,
or Nelumbium.
Supposed to be the
Cyperus esculentus.
(Arab. Ilab cl dzeez. )
' AVithout any scent.' Plin.
Helenium (according to Dios-
corides), a native of Egypt.
This and four other species
of Teucrium now grow
there.
' What is called by Diodes
and the Sicilians, Ameracus,
is known in Egypt and
Syria as the Sampsuchimi.'
'An oil made from it.'
Plin. Athenaeus (xv. p.
676) says, 'The Amaracus
abounds in Egypt;' and in
lib. V. he mentions Amara-
cine ointment.
' Grows everywhere.' Plin.
If by ' In yEgypto sine odore
hsec omnia,' Pliny means
that all the flowers men-
] tioned in this chapter are
I Egyptian, many others
[ might be here introduced.
'Growing in the Nile;' one
of the wild plants whicli
abound so plentifully in
Egypt.' Plin. Athen. iii.
p. 72. Strabo, xvii. p. 550.
' Grows some distance from
the Nile.' 'Fruit like a
medlar, without husk or
kernel. Leaf of the cyperus.
No other use but for food.'
Plin. Some suppose it the
Cyperus esculentus, which
is very doubtful.
Chap. XL]
PLANTS FROM PLINY.
411
Xaine from Pliny.
CEtum
Arachidna .
Aracos '■^ . .
Coiu'rylla
Hypocheris .
Caucalis . .
Antluiscum .
X or Trago- /
in . . . . )
.Scandix or Traso-
pogon
Parthenium . .
S t r y c h n u m, or 1
Strychnus, or Try- J-
chos, or Solanum J
Corchorus
Apliace .
Aciuos
lib. cap.
xxi. 15
Epipetron
xxi. 15
xxi. 15
xxi. 15
xxi. 15
xxi. 15
xxi. 15
xxi. 15
xxi. 15,.30
xxii. 17
XXV. 5
xxi. 15, 31
xxvii.l3
xxi. 15, 32
xxi. 15
xxi. 15, 27
xxi. 15
t'nicus. or Atractylis. xxi. 15, 32
tivated ; and two species of
and other reptiles.' Plln.
the same plant
Botanical Name.
Supposed to be the
Arachis hypogfea ? ^
Remarks.
Lactuca sativa ?
(Arab. Khuss.
Hyoseris lucida
Caucalis daucoi
des?
Caucalis anthris- I J
cus. ""
(Arab. Gezzer e'
shay tun.)
Tragopogon pi-
croides ?
{Arah.Edthbdh?)
Matricaria Par-
thenium, or M.
Chamomilla.
iSolanum Dulcama-
ra, or Solanum
nigrum.
(Ava,h. Eneb ehleeh)
Corchorus olitorius. .
(Arab. Melokheeh.)
Leontodon Taraxa-
cum.
Also eaten in Egypt. Few-
leaves; large root.' Plin.
Theophrastus says, it has a
long root, gathered at the
time of the inundation, and
used for crowning the altars.
Lib. i. c. 1, 11.)
These two have spreading
and numerous roots; but
neither leaf nor anything
above the ground.' Plln.
Lettuce '?
Thymus Acinos, or
Ocymum Zatarhendi.
(Arab. Zdtar.)
Sedutn confertum.
(Arab. Uelalem.
Carthamus tincto-
rius ?
(Arab. Koortum.)
The other is per-
haps the Cartha-
mus Creticus.
Leaves like a crocus.' Plin.
Dioscorides describes its flower
with a white circuit and
yellow within.
' Used in Egypt for chaplets ;
the leaves like ivy: of two
kinds; one has red berries
(in a sort of bladder) full of
grains, and is called Hali-
cacabus, or Callion, and, in
Italy, Vesicaria: the third
kind is very poisonous.'
Nightshade.
' Eaten at Alexandria.' Plin.
Flowers all the winter and
spring, till the summer.'
Plin. Dandelion.
The Egyptians grow the
Acinos for making chaplets
and for food. It appears
the same as the Ocimum,
but its leaves and stalks are
more hirsute.' Plin.
'Never flowers.' Plin. Some
editions of Pliny make this
and the Achinos the same;
but they are generally be-
lieved to be different.
Supposed to be the Carthamus.
' IJnknown in Italy. Oil
extracted from the seeds,
and of great value. Two
kinds; the wild and the cul-
the former. Remedy against the poison of scorpions
It is supposed that the Cnicus and Atractylis are not
1 I do not believe this to be a native of Egypt.
2 Some have supposed these two to be of the genus Lathyrus ; I think erroneously.
412
THE ANCIENT EGYPTIANS.
[Chap. XL
Name from Pliny.
Tribulus
lib. cap.
) xxi. 16 )
( ' xxii. 10 j
Perdicum
Ornithogale . . .
Juncus ....
Cyperus . . . .
Cyperus ....
Heliochrysum, or
Chrysanthemum
Persoluta
Lotometra
(Rhus)
Egyptian Clematis,
or Daphnoi'des, or
Polygonoides . .
Ophiusa . . . .
Stratiotis ....
Nepenthes
XXI.
xxii.
xxi. 17
xxi. 18
XXI.
xxi.
xxi. 25
xxi. 33
xxii. 21
sxiv. 11 '
xxiv. 15
xxiv,
xxiv,
XXI.
XXV.
17
18
Botanical Name.
Trapa natans
Ornithogalum Arabi-
cum?
Juncus acutus . . .
(Arab. Sumdr.)
Gladiolus communis .
Cyperus Niloticus,
and many other
species.
Gnphalium Stoechas
Remarks.
A large kind of culti-
vated lotos or Nym-
pliEea Lotus.
Rhus oxyacanthoides
(Arab. Errin.)
Vinca
major
nor ?
' Gods crowned with it; a
custom particularly observed
by Ptolemy, king of Egypt.'
Plin.
' Grown in gardens in Egypt
for making chaplets.' Plin.
' Coming from the garden
lotos, from whose seed, like
millet, the Egyptian bakers
make bread.' Plin.
('Rhus: leaves like myrtle,
used for dressing skins.'
Though Pliny does not men-
tion it as an Egyptian plant,
it is indigenous in the desert,
and the leaves and wood are
used by the Arabs for tan-
ning. )
' Mostly produced in Egypt.'
Plin.
' About Elephantina.' Plin.
' Only in Egypt during the
inundation of the Nile.'
Plin.
' Homer attributes the glory
of herbs to Egypt. He men-
tions many given to Helen
by the wife of the Egyptian
king, particularly the Ne-
penthes, M'hich caused ob-
livion of sorrow.' Plin.
[The Nepenthes is thought
to be a preparation of
opium, and not a plant; but opium was well known to the ancients, as well as
various preparations of that drug. Pliny says: ' The Heleuium, which sprang (as
stated xxi. 10) from the tears of Helen has a similar effect with Nepenthes.' • The
Heleuium is a shrub with small branches stretching along the ground, about nine
inches long, with a leaf resembling that of wild thyme' (x). Some suppose the
Helenium to be the Inula campania, oi' Elecampane, but neither its properties nor
its appearance accord with the account of Pliny. The best Helenium grows in the
island of Helene or Macris (now called Macronis, and lying five miles from Sunium,
and from Cos), thought, says Strabo, to be the Homeric Cranae. Writers are not,
however, all agreed as to the modern Macronis being Helene. — G. W. ]
Pistia Stratiotes . .
Arab. Ileialeni el
ma. )
Perhaps the Bust or
Hasheesh, a pre-
paration of the
Canabis sativa.
' Grows about the Nile in
marshes, and is eaten. Leaf
like the elm.' Plin.
' Eaten by other people, as by
the Egyptians.' ' Grows on
walls and tiles of houses.'
Plin.
' Sieves made of it in Egypt.'
Plin.
' With a bulbous root.' Plin.
' A triangular rush.' Plin.
1 In the same chapter Pliny says ebony is not produced in Egypt.
Chap. XI.
TREES IN THE PAINTINGS.
413
Name from Pliny.
Absinthium
marinum, or
Seriphiiim .
Mvosotis . . .
lib. cap.
i. 21 I
xxvii. 12
XXI
xxvii
Botanical Name.
Artemisia Judai-
ca ? . . . .
(Anih.Bytheran.)
Myosotis arvensis
Remarks.
' The best at Taposiris in
Egypt: a buncli of it carried
at tlie fete of Isis.' Plin.
' The Egyptians believe tliat if,
on the 27tli day of Thiatis
(Thoth), whicli answers
nearly to our August, any
one anoints himself with its
juice before he speaks in the
morning, he will be free
from weakness of the eyes
all that year. Plin.
The trees of ancient Eg)^pt have been already mentioned.
I shall therefore onl}^ add, in confirmation of their having been
known in the early times of the Pharaohs, that the paintings
of the tombs represent the date, dom, sycamore, pomegranate,^
persea, tamarisk, and Prriploca Secamone ; and the fruit, seeds,
No. 47(1.
Plants from the sculptures.
Fiijs. 1 to 6 inclusive, from the tomb of Kameses III.
From Thebes.
or leaves of the 7iebk^^ vine, fig, olive, Mokhayt,^ Kharodb or locust
tree,* palma Christi or cici.,^ Sont or acacia,^ bay, and Egleeg or
balanites,''' have been found in the tombs of Thebes.^ Many
seeds and fruits also occur there ; as the Areca, Tamarind,
Myrobalanus, and others, which are the produce either of India
or the interior of Africa : but these are not readily confounded
' Numb. XX. 5 : ' of figs, or of vines, or
of pomegranates.'
2 Rharnnus Nabeca, Forsk.
^ ^Gordia Mi/xa, Linn.
4 Ceratonia Siliqua, I^inn. Pliny calls
it Geraunia Siliqua, and saj's it ditl not
grow in Egypt (xiii. 8).
5 Ricinus communis, Linn., the castor-
berrv tree.
6 Mimosa or Acacia Nilotica.
"^ Balanites yUgyptiaca, supposed to be
the Persea.
» It is said that the lime and Seville
orange have been found, which is sin-
gular, as they are supposed to have
been first introduced from India by the
Arabs.
414 THE ANCIEXT EGYPTIANS. [Chap. XI.
with the actual productions of Egypt. They are, however,
highly interesting, as they show the constant intercourse main-
tained with those distant countries.
The sculptures represent various trees and flowers, some of
which may be recognized, while others are less clearly defined :
of the latter I submit those given in Woodcut No. 470 to the
expert botanist, who may be disposed to suggest their names,
or the family to which they belong.
Little attention is now paid by the inhabitants ^ of Egypt to
the cultivation of plants beyond those used for the purpose of
food, or to the growth of trees, excepting the palm, large groves
of which are met with in every part of the country ; and
indeed, if the statement of Strabo^ be true, that -in all (Lower)
Egypt the palm was sterile, or bore an uneatable fruit, though
of excellent quality in the Thebaid,' this tree is now cultivated
with more success in Lower Egypt than in former times, some
of the best quality of dates being produced there, particularly
at Korayn, near the Delta, where the kind called A'maree is
superior to any produced to the N. of Nubia.
Few timber trees are now grown to any great extent either in
Upper or Lower Egypt. Some sycamores, whose wood is required
for water-wheels and other purposes ; a few groups of Athuls,
or Oriental tamarisks, used for tools and other implements re-
quiring a compact wood ; and two or three groves of So7it., or
Mimosa Nilotica, valuable for its hard wood, and for its pods
used in tanning, are nearly all that the modern inhabitants retain
of the many trees grown by their predecessors. But thei •
thriving condition, as that of the mulberry-trees (planted f o •
the silk-worms), which form, with the Mimosa Lehhek,^ some
shady avenues in the vicinity of Cairo, and of the Cassia fistula
(bearing its dense mass of blossoms in the gardens of the me-
tropolis), show that it is not the soil, but the industry of the
people, which is wanting to encourage the growth of trees.
The Egleeg^ or balanites, the supposed Persea, no longer thrives
in the valley of the Nile ; many other trees are rare, or alto-
gether unknown; .and the extensive groves of Acanthus, or So7it,
are rather tolerated than encouraged, as the descendants of the
1 Besides these, there have been recently ^ Strabo, xvii. p. 5G3.
discovered the representatives of the Hora ^ [Tlu; Arab tradition is, that this tree
and fauna brought from the land of Taneter w()ishi])peil t'lirist, when lie was in Euypt.
to Efrypt in the reiji-n of Thothnies 111., in It was rate in Egypt even in the time of
his twenty-fifth vear. (Mariette, Karnak., Wanslcb (1072). — (i. W.]
pi. 31.) — S. 15. ■
Chap. XI.J TREES AT THE PRESENT DAY. 415
trees planted in olden times near the edge of the cultivated land.
Their value is understood : the sale of iSont pods is a revenue to
the owner without the trouble of cultivation ; the trees are found
by a son as they were left by his father ; but no trouble is taken
to add to their number, and this careless indifference about their
growth is confirmed, b}' the unwise system of a government which
taxes every tree, and makes it a cause of vexation to its possessor.
But though many are gone, it is interesting to see these few
remnants of ancient groves, wliich have continued to occupy the
same spots, perhaps, from the earliest times. The grove of
Acanthus alluded to by Strabo still exists above Memj^his, at
the base of the low Libyan hills: in going from the Nile to
Abydus, you ride through the grove of Acacia, once sacred to
Apollo, and see the rising Nile traversing it by a canal similar
to that which conveyed the water thither when the geographer
visited that city, even then reduced to the condition of a small
village ; and groves of the same tree may here and there be
traced in other parts of the Theba'id, from which it obtained the
name of the Thebaic thorn. Above the Cataracts the Sotit grows
in profusion upon the banks of the Nile, where it is used for
chai'coal, sent to Cairo for sale by the poor Nubians ; and its
place is supplied in the desert by the Sealeh and other of the
Mimosa tribe, which are indigenous to the soil.
Many flowers and shrubs were grown in pots or wooden boxes
in the gardens or the walks near the houses of the ancient Egyp-
tians ; and to the garden department belonged the care of the
bees, which were kept in hives similar to our own.^ In Egypt
bees require great attention ; and so few are the plants at the
present day that the owners of hives often take them in boats to
various spots upon the Nile in quest of flowers. They are a much
smaller species than our own ; and though I have met with them
wild in many parts of Egypt, I never saw them in any numbers ;
but wasps, hornets, and ichneumons abound throughout the valley
of the Nile. The wild bees hive mostly under stones, or in clefts
of the rock, as in many other countries ; and the expression of
Moses and of the Psalmist, ' honey out of the rock,' ^ shows that
in Palestine their habits were the same. Virgil ^ mentions a
mode of replenishing the stock of bees, practised in Egyi)t, by
means of the carcase of a bull, which, as M. de Pauw supposes, is
1 I remember to have seen them so 2 Deut. xxxii. 13. Ps. Ixxxi. 16.
represented in a tomb at Thebes, but have 3 Virg. Georg. iv. 229. Plin. xi. 20.
no copy of the subject.
416 THE ANCIENT EGYPTIANS. [Chap. XI.
probabl}^ a stfery derived from the custom of raising young swarms
in the warmth of a stable ; ^ but neither this, nor any other secret
respecting tlieir management, can be looked for in the sculptures
of the tombs ; and whatever skill the Egyptians possessed in
these, as in many other matters, must continue unknown to us :
though, from the great importance^ they attached to honey " as a
welcome offering to the gods and an article of luxury, we may con-
clude that great pains were taken in rearing bees; and the diffi-
culty of procuring for them an abundant supply of food at certain
seasons doubtless led to the adoption of many curious expedients^
which, being unnecessary, were unthought of m other countries.
The principal woods used by the Egyptians were the date^
dom, sycamore, acacia, tamarisk, egleeg or balanites, ebony, tir,
and cedar. The various purposes to which every part of the
palm or date tree was applied have been already noticed, as well as
of the (Zow, or Theban palm. Sycamore wood was employed for
coffins, boxes, small idols, doors, window-shutters, stools, chairs,
and cramps for building ; for handles of tools, wooden pegs or
nails, cramps, idols, small boxes, and those parts of cabinet work
requiring hard compact wood, the Sont or Acacia Nllotica was
usually preferred ; and spears were frequently made of other aca-
cias, which grew in the interior or on the ccntines of the desert.
In tools of various kinds, the wood of the Taynarix orientalia
was likewise much used, and even occasionally in pieces of furni-
ture, for which purpose the egleeg was also employed ; but the
principal woods adopted by the cabinet maker for tine work were
ebony, fir, and cedar. The first came from the interior of Africa,
and formed, with ivory, gold, ostrich feathers, dried fruits, and
skins, the jnincipal object of the annual tribute brought to Egypt
bv the C()m[uered tribes of Ethiopia and the Soodan ; fir and
cedar being imported from Syria, The two last were in great
demand for ornamental furniture, for coffins, small boxes, and
various objects connected with the dead ; and many woods of a
rare and valuable kind were brought to Egypt by the people of
Asia tributary to the Pharaohs, the beauty and value of which
may be estimated by the frequent custom of imitating them, for
the satisfaction of those who could not afford to purchase furniture
or trinkets of so expensive a material.
' He thinks of the sacred bulls; h\it monuments; the insect, the emblem for
there is no necessity that they should have kin": so often repeated, being the hornet or
been sacred. wasp ; honey, however, is often mentioned.
2 Pint, de Isid. s. Ixxxi. 68. — S. B. "
3 The hee is not represented on the
Chap. XI. 1 MEDICINAL PLANTS. 417
There is reason to believe that the ancient Egyptians en-
couraged, or at least [)r(jtited by, the growth of many wild plants
of the desert, which were useful for medicinal purposes. Many of
them are still known to the Arabs, as the Salvadora Persiea^ the
Irak or Erdk of the Arabs ; the twigs are used for making tooth-
brushes, by splitting or fraying out the fibres at the cut end of
the branchlet , it grows plentifully in the southern parts of the
Eastern desert. This has been, by some, supposed to be the Sin-
apis or mustard of Matthew xiii. 31. The Arabs also knew the
HeUotropium htcbrians^ Lycium Europceuin., Scilla mwitima, Cas-
sia iSentia, Ochraderius haccatus^ Ocimum Zatarhendi, Linaria j^-
gyptiaca, Spartium mono sper mum ^ Hedysarum Alhayi, Santolina
fraf/rantissima^ Artemisia, Judaica (mo7iosperma and inculta^,
Imda undnlata and crispa, Cucumis, Colocynthis, &c. And many
others have probably fallen into disuse from the ignorance of the
modern inhabitants of the countr}^ who only know them from the
Arabs, by whom tlie traditions concerning their properties are
preserved. From what Homer tells us of ' the infinity of drugs
produced in Egypt," the use of '■many medicines ' mentioned by
Jeremiah, and the frequent allusion by Pliny to the medicinal
])lants of that country, we may conclude that the productions
of the desert (vvhere those herbs mostly grow) were particularly
prized ; and several were found of great use in dyeing, tanning,
curing skins, and various other purposes. Of these, the most
remarkable were the fungi, for dyeing ; the pods of the Acacia
Nilotica., the bark of the Acacia Seyal, and the wood and bark
of the Rhus oxyacantho'ides, for tanning; and the Per'iploca
Secamonel} for curing skins.
The process adopted in the employment of these plants I
shall not now* stop to describe, nor shall I enter into any detail
of their medicinal use, and the maladies they are said to cure :
this will more properly form a part of a dissertation on the botany
of Egypt, reserved for a future work. But I may be allowed to
make one observation on the Owseg, Owshes, or Lycium Euro-
pceum, though not immediately connected with the subject of
Egypt. This thornj- shrub, called by the Copts Ramnus, which is
common in the hills throughout Lower Egypt and Syria, has a
better claim to the title of 'the holy thorn,' of which the Saviour's
crown is said to have been made, than any other plant. The
modern and ancient Greeks agree with the Copts in giving it the
' This climbinij plant appears to be Thebes, used in lieu of the ivy, which in
represented in the tomb of Rameses III. at its leaf it slightly resembles.
VOI-. 11. 27
418 THE ANCIENT EGYPTIANS. [Chap. XI.
name Ramiius; and Pliny ^ evidently had in view the Owshes
when he says, ' It is called by the Greeks Rhamnus, and is a
Howeiing tliorny plant, with spreading branches, having thoriis,
not curved like other briars, but straight, and larger leaves ; '
though the name of Rhamnus has been applied by modern
botanists to a different genus.^
Of the erroneous statement made by Herodotus respecting
the use of wheat, I have already spoken ; and have shown that
wheat and barley were abundantly cultivated in every part of
Egypt. The former was cut in about five, the latter in four
months; 3 the best quality, according to Pliny, being grown in
the Thebaid.* The wheat, as at the present day, was all bearded,
and the same varieties doubtless existed in ancient as in modern
times, ^ among which may be mentioned the seven-eared quality
described in Pharaoh's dream.^ It was cropped a little below
the ear' with a toothed sickle, and carried to the threshing-Hoor
in wickei baskets upon asses,*^ or in rope^ nets, the gleaners
following to collect the fallen ears in hand-baskets. The rope
net, answering to the Shenfeh of modern Egypt, was borne on a
pole by two men , and the threshing-floor was a level circular
area"^ near the field, or in the vicinity of the granary,^^ where,
when it had been well swept,^^ the ears were deposited, and cattle
were driven over it to tread out the grain. While superintending
the animals employed for this purpose, the Egyptian peasant, as
usual both in ancient and modern times, relieved his labors by
singing; and the ingenious Champollion^^ found in a tomb at
Eileithyia a song of the threshers, written in hieroglyphics over
oxen treading out the grain, to which he gives this translation : —
' (1) Thresh for yourselves (twice repeated^*), (2) O oxen, (3)
thresh for yourselves (twice), (4) measures for yourselves, (5)
measures for your masters ; ' similar to which may be found otlier
songs in the sculptured tombs ^^ of Upper Egypt.
1 Plin. xxiv. 11. '' Job. xxiv. 24: 'Cut off as the tops of
- Linnaeus trives the name of Rha>7i?i us the ears of corn.'
Spini Christi to a cHfl'erent plant; and the ^ Woodcut Xo. 472, ft(/g. 4 and fi.
Nel)eca or Nebk, the Zizyphus, and others ^ Woodcut No. 471, ,fi(/s. 5 and 7.
of this kind come under' the ffeneral de- i" Those of the Romans were paved, or
nomination of Khamnus. There appears more usually formed of clay, well laid ilowu
to be some confusion between the Lycium and smoothed by rollers. (Virg. C4eor. i. 178.
and the Khamnus. ii As with the Romans. (Coluni. i. 6.)
3 Diodor. i. 36 : 'They return after four 12 Matthew iii. 12
or five months to cut the corn.' Fliny 13 ' Lettres sur I'L^'ypte,' 11th and 12th
(xviii. 7) says barley in the 6th and wheat letters, pp. 146, 196.
in the 7th nionth. " ■* Tliu. xviii. 18. '■* This sign of twice occurs at a and b,
s ' General View of Ejrypt,' p. 261. woodcut No 473.
6 Gen. xli. 22. '^ Rosellini, vol. i. part ii. p. 311.
Chap. XL]
THRESHING.
419
A certain quantity was first strewed in tne centre ol' the area,
and when this had been well triturated by the animals' feet, more
was added by means of large wooden forks, from the main heap
raised around and forming the edge of the threshing-floor ; and
so on till all the grain was trodden out. This process was called
420
THE ANCIENT EGYPTIANS.
[Chap. XI.
by the Latins tritura^^ and was generally adopted by ancient as
by some modern people. Sometimes the cattle were bound
together by a piece of wood
or a rope fastened to their
horns, in order to force them
to go round the heap and
tread it regularly, the driver
following behind them with
a stick.^
After the grain was trod-
den out, they winnowed it
with wooden shovels ; it
was then carried to the
I S granary in sacks, each con-
|| taining a fixed quantity,
I >■ which was determined by
_ wooden measures, a scribe
gl noting down the number as
called by the teller who
superintended its removal.
Sweepers with small hand-
brooms were employed to
collect the scattered grain
tliat fell from the measure :
and the 'immense heaps of
corn ' mentioned by Dio-
dorus,^ collected from 'the
field which was round about
every city,' ^ fully accord
with the representation of
the paintings in the tombs,'^
and with those seen at the
present day in the villages
of the Nile. Sometimes
two scribes*^ were present,
one to write down the num-
ber of measures taken from
the heap of corn, and the
other to check them, by
1 Sometimes by horses.
Virg. Geor^. iii. 132.
2 Woodcut No. 472.
Plin. xviii. 30. 3 Diodor. i. 36. * Qen. xli. 48.
5 Woodcuts No. 471 and No. 474.
« Woodcut No. 471.
-r- L_; >Vo
111 I I I LV. A
Chap. XL] THRESHING AND WINNOWING. 421
entering the quantity I'cmoved to the granary ; but the office of the
hitter was probably to take account of the sacks actually housed :
and this shows how necessary they considered it to guard against
the artifices of a cunning people, and how much the refinements
of civilization had tended, as is
commonly the case, to substitute
deception for the original sim-
plicity of an infant state. Hero- ,^^^»».
dotus ^ describes the Egyptian | /■■■^ » I ^
mode of treading out the grain i \\ 1^ A ^^Z^
by oxen, in which he is fully
borne out by the sculptures of ' 0 ^""^ ^-^ A? ?
the tombs ; and these inform us yy CT^ T*^^ ^ '^
that they occasionally, though
rarely, employed asses for the /vsaw>a H--..
same puri^ose. This was also the <vv\a/v\a ,,,
custom of the Jews, and, like the
Eg3^ptians, they suffered the ox r^^r^A/x | A '"^^^^^^ ^^. . _ ^
to tread out the corn unmuzzled, • » • • vL iii
according to the express order of Songofthethresherstotheoxen.(Seep.418)
their lawgiver.^ In later times, No. 473. EUeUhyia.
however, it appears that the Jews
used ' threshing instruments ; ' though, from the offer made to
David by Oman, of ' the oxen also,' and the use of the word dus^
' treading,' in the sentence ' Oman was threshing wheat,' ^ it is
possible tliat the tritura is here alluded to, and that the threshing
instruments only refer to the winnowing shovels, or other imple-
ments used on those occasions : though the ' new sharp threshing
instrument having teeth,' mentioned in Isaiah,* cannot fail to call
to mind the noreg^ or corn drag, of modern Egypt, which the
Hebrew name moreg so closely resemble* ; and the same word is
applied to the ' threshing instruments ' ^ of Oman. The Jews, like
the Greeks,*^ bound up the wlieat, when cut, into sheaves ; " but
this was not the usual custom of the Egyptians, who were generally
contented to put it into baskets or rope nets, and to carry it loose
to the threshing-floor. The same was done by the Romans ; and
they either cut down the corn to the roots, or culled the ears with
1 ITerodot. ii. 14. 4 Isaiah xli. 15.
2 Deut. XXV. 4. ^lian says that, to 5 1 Chron. xxi. 23, wjore^m.
prevent the oxen eating- the" grain and 6 Horn. II. S, 550.
straw, they used in old times to rub their 7 This ancient custom is mentioned in
mouth with manure. (Hist. An. iv. 25.) Genesis xxxvii. 7; Levit. xxiii. 10; Deut.
3 1 Chron. xxi. 20 and 23. xxiv. 19, &c.
422
THE ANCIENT EGYPTIANS.
IC'HAP. XL
a toothed sickle, gathering the straw afterwards,^ or burning it
for manure.^
The modern Eg3^ptians cut the wheat close to the ground, —
1 Coliini. ii. 21.
2 Virg. Georg. i. 84.
Chap. XI,.]
THRESHING AND WINNOWING.
423
barley and doora being plucked up by the roots, — and having
bound it in sheaves, carry it to a level and cleanly-swept area
near the field, in the centre of which they collect it in a heap ;
and then, taking a suffi-
cient quantity, spread it
upon the open area, and
pass over it the noreg
drawn by two oxen : the
difference in the modern
and ancient method being
that in the former the
noreg is used, and the
oxen go round the heap,
winch is in the centre
and not at the circum-
ference, of the threshing-
floor. Some instances,
however, occur of the
heap being in the centre,
as at the present day, as
in the accompanying cut.
The noreg is a ma-
chine consisting of a
wooden frame, with three
cross bars or axles, on
which are fixed circular
iron plates, for the pur-
pose of bruising the ears
of corn and extracting
the grain, at the same
time that the straw is
broken up into small
pieces ; the first and last
axles having each four plates, and the central one three : and at
the upper part is a seat on which the driver sits, his weight
tending to give additional effect to the machine.^
1 In the endorsement of one of the
Anastasi Papyri (Select Papyri, pi. clvi.)
tliere is an account of the reaping and
liousinjj of the corn in the granary, on the
4th of the month Choeak. The corn was
threshed, ht-ten, on the 26th Paophi, and
p\it into sacks, aat, or the granary, on the
15th Athyr, a mouth afterwards. The
contents were measured on the 3d and 12th
Choeak, the next month, and gave a total
of 332 bushels. A chronological deductiun
has been attempted to be drawn from this,
on the hypothesis that the word hi-ten
means ' inundation,' and that it took place
in the reign of Meneptah. (Goodwin, in
' Zeitschrift fur agyptische Sprachc, 1867,
424
THE ANCIENT EGYPTIANS.
[Chap. XL
The tribidioUj^ which was sometimes used by the Romans,
appears not to have been very dissimikir, as we learn from Varro,^
who describes it as ' a frame made rough by stones or pieces of
iron, ou which the driver, or a great weight, was placed ; and this
No. 476. Wlie;it bound in sheaves. Tlubi^s.
Fkj. 1, reaping. 2, caiTying the ears. 3, binding them in sheaves, i>ut up sA fig. 4.
being drawn by beasts yoked to it, pressed out the grain from
the ear.' While some were employed in collecting the grain and
depositing it in the granar}^ others gathered the long stubble
from the held, and prepared it as provender to feed the horses
and cattle , for which purpose it was used by the Romans ^ as by
No. 477. The oxen driven round the heap ; contrary to the usual custom.
Thebes.
the modern Egyptians. They probably preferred reaping the
corn close to the ear, in order to facilitate the trituration ; and
afterwards cutting the straw close to the ground, or plucking it
by the roots, they chopped it up for the cattle ; and this, with
dried clover, the drees of modern Egypt, was laid by for autumn,
pp. 57, 58.) In the 30th year of Ameno-
phis III. tlie corn was brought into the
{rranaries on the 1st of Pachons. (Prisse,
'Monuments,' pi. xxix. and xlii.) — S. B.
1 Virnf. Gcorfr. i. 164.
2 De Pie Kustica, i. 52.
3 Pliu. xviii. 30.
Chap. XL] STRAW USED AS PROVENDER. -1^5
when the i)astiires being overflowed by the Nile, the flocks and
lierds were kept in sheds or pens on the high grounds, or in the
precincts of the vilhiges.^
The straw was doubtless cut up, as at the present day, by
some contrivance answering to our hay knife, and cleansed from
the earth, dust, or other impurities, previous to use: being
•winnowed with the shovel, and with the fan,' in the manner
mentioned by Isaiah,^ when speaking of 'provender" given to
cattle. This custom of feeding some of their herds in sheds
accords with the* scriptural account of the preservation of the
cattle, which had been ' brought home ' from the held ; and
explains the apparent contradiction of the destruction of '■all the
cattle of Egypt ' by the murrain, and the subsequent destruction
of the cattle by the hail ; ^ those which ' were in the field ' alone
having suffered from the previous plague, and those in the stalls
or ' houses ' having been preserved. An instance of stall-fed
oxen from the sculptures has been given in my account of the
farm-yard and villas of the Egyptians.
The first crop of wheat having been gathered, they prepared
the land for whatever produce they next intended to rear ; the
field was ploughed and sowed, and, if necessary, the whole was
inundated by artificial means, as often as the quality of the crop
or other circumstances required.* The same was repeated after
the second and third harvests, for which, as I have already
observed, the peasant was indebted to his own labors in raising
water from the Nile, — an arduous task, and one from which no
showers relieved him throughout the whole season. For in Upper
Egypt rain may be said never to fall, five or six slight showers
that annually fall there scarcely deserving that name ; and in
no country is artificial irrigation so indispensable as in the
valley of the Nile.
Pomponius Mela calls Egypt ' terra expers imbrium ; ' and
Proclus says if showers fell in Lower Egypt they were confined
to that district, and heavy rain was a prodigy in the Thebaid.
Herodotus indeed affirms^ that rain at Thebes portended some
great calamity, and the conquest of Egypt by the Persians was
thought to have been foretold by this unusual phenomenon at
that place. In Upper Egypt showers only occur about five or
six times in the year, but every fifteen or twenty years heavy
1 Diodor, i. 36. 4 Plin3', lib. xvii. 18
2 Isaiah xxx. 24. Conf. Matt. iii. 12. 5 Herodot. iii. 10.
3 E.xod. ix. 6 and 19, et seq.
426 THE ANCIENT EGYPTIANS. [Chap. XX
rain falls there, which will account for the deep ravines cut in
the valleys of the Theban hills, about the Tombs of the Kings ;
in Lower Egypt rain is more frequent ; and in Alexandria it is as
abundant in winter as in the south of Europe. These ravines,
and the precautions taken to protect the roofs of the temples at
Thebes against rain, show that it fell there of old as now ; but a
continuation of heavy rain in Upper Egypt, or even at Cairo,
for two or three days, would be considered a great wonder, and
would cause many houses to fall down, as in 1823.^ The Eastern
desert, between the Nile and the Red Sea, where the mountains
are higher, is frequently visited by heavy rain and thunder-storms
in the winter, though the climate is drier than the valley of the
Nile ; and every four or five years the torrents run down to the
Red Sea on one side and to the Nile on the other. In less than
a month's time after this the beds of those torrents are covered
with green herbs and numerous small flowers, and the Arabs take
their flocks to graze there till the Khamseen winds and the hot
sun of May have dried them up, and nothing remains except a
few acacia-trees and the usual hardy shrubs of those arid districts.
There are scarcely any springs in the valley of tlie Nile, and the
few found there are probably caused by the filtration of the Nile-
water through the soil.
In many instances, instead of corn they grew clover, or
leguminous herbs, which were sown as soon as the water began
to subside, generally about the commencement of October ; and
at the same time that corn or other produce was raised on the
land just left by the water, another crop was procured by artificial
irrigation. This, of course, depended on the choice of each
individual, who consulted the advantages obtained from certain
kinds of produce, the time required for their succession, or tl.c
benefit of the land; for though no soil recovers more readily from
the bad effects arising from a repetition of similar crops, through
the equalizing influence of the alluvial deposit, it is at length
found to impoverish the land ; and the Egyptian jieasantis careful
not to neglect the universal principle in liusbandry, of varying
the produce on the same ground.
Besides wheat, other crops are represented in the paintings of
the tombs ; one of which, a tall grain, is introduced as a produc-
tion both of Upper and Lower Egyjjt.^ From the color, the
1 Conf Exod.ix. 18, where the hailstorm 2 At Thebes, Eileithyia, Beni-Hassan,
is not said to have been tlie only one, but and Saqqara.
such as was unlike any before it in Eprypt.
CUAl'. XI. 1
THE DOORA.
427
height to which it grows, compared with the wheat, and the
appearance of a round yellow head it bears on the top of its
bright green stalk it is evidently intended to represent the doora,
or Holcus Sorghum. It was not reaped by a sickle, like the
wheat and barley, but men, and sometimes women, were employed
to pluck it up ; which being done, they struck off the earth that
adhered to the roots with their hands, and having bound it
in sheaves, they carried it to what may be termed the threshing-
floor, where, being forcibly drawn through an instrument armed
at the summit with metal spikes, the grain was stripped off, and
fell upon the Avell-swept area below, — a satisfactory illustration
of which is given in one of the agricultural scenes of a tomb at
No. 478.
Thebes.
3 2 1
Gathering the doora and wheat.
jFir/. 1, phicking up the plant by the roots.
2, striking off the earth trom the roots.
3, reaping wheal or barley.
Eileithyia in woodcut No. 479. INIuch tlax was cultivated in
Egypt, and the various j)rocesses of watering it, beating the
stalks when gathered, making it into twine, and lastly into a
piece of cloth, are represented in the paintings. I have already
noticed them in the preceding part of this work, as well as the
difficulty presented b}' the name Byssus.
At the end of summer, the peasant looked anxiousl}' for the
return of the inundation, upon which all his hopes for the ensuing
year depended. He watched with scru[)ulous attention the first
rise of the liver ; the state of its daily increase was noted down
and proclaimed by the curators of tlie Kilometers at Memphis
and other places ; and the same anxiety for the approaching
inundation was felt as on each preceding year.^
1 No donra has been found in the tombs,
which is remarkable, as corn and barlcy
are, nor has it been recognized as men-
tioned in the texts and inscriptions. Straw,
however, supposed to bo of doora, has been
found. — S. B.
428
THE ANCIENT EGYPTIANS.
[Chap. XL
About the middle of June, a gradual and continuous increase
of the Nile was already seen, even as low as the vicinity of
Memphis; ' its first rise being perceived,' ^ at the Cataracts, about
the end of May, or the beginning of June ; and a change from
the previous clearness of the stream was soon observed in its red
and turbid state, caused by
the rains from the mountains
of Abyssinia.^ It then as-
sumed a green appearance ; ^
and during this period its
water being deemed un-
wholesome, a supply pre-
viously laid up in jars was
used until it had re-assumed
its turbid but wholesome
red color. This explains
the remark of Aristides,*
that 'the Egyptians are the
only people who preserve
water in jars, and calculate
its age as other nations do
that of wine ; ' and the reason
for adopting water jars as
emblems of the inundation
(on the authority of Hora-
pollo^ and the sculptures)
may probably be derived
from this custom of laying
up the pure water of the
Nile in jars, about the season,
or at the first approach, or
the inundation ; though the
calculation of the age of the
water must be considered a
Greek exaggeration.
It was perha})s this
change in the appearance of the river which led the Egyptians to
represent the god Nilus both of a red and a blue color, — indi-
1 Seneca, Nat. Quaest. iv. 2, p. 886.
2 Ammianus Marcellinus and others
doubted the inundation beincr caused by
rains in Ethiopia (xxii. \n, p. 334).
3 Prob;il)ly from passing- through some
lakes or marsh lands, whence green stag-
nant water mixed with the stream was
brought down to Esvpt.
4 Orat. Esrvpt. vol. ii. p. 363.
'^ Iloniiiollo, i. 21.
Chap. XL
TIME OF THE INUNDATION.
429
eating the river during the turbid state of the inundation, and the
clearness of the low Nile. In the beginning of August the canals
were again opened, and the waters once more overflowed the })Iain.
That part nearest the desert, being the lowest level, was tirst
inundated ; as the bank itself, being the highest, was the last part
submerged, except in the Delta, where the levels were more uni-
form, and where, during the liigli inundations, the whole land, with
the exception of its isolated villages, was under water. As the Nile
rose, the peasants were careful to remove the flocks and herds
from the lowlands ; and when a sudden irruption of the water,
owing to the bursting of a dj'ke or an unexpected and unusual
increase of the river, overflowed the fields and pastures, they
were seen hurrying to the spot, on foot or in boats, to rescue the
430 THE ANCIENT EGYPTIANS. [Chap. XI.
animals,^ and to remove them to the high grounds above the
reach of the inundation. Some tying their clothes upon their
heads, dragged the sheep and goats from the water, and put them
into boats ; others swam the oxen to the nearest high ground :
and if any corn or other produce could be cut or torn up by the
roots in time to saA^e it from the flood, it was conveyed on rafts
or boats to the next village. Guards were placed to watch the
dykes which protected the lowlands, and the utmost care was
taken to prevent any sudden influx of v\'ater, which might en-
danger the produce still growing^ there, the cattle, or the villages.
And of such importance was the preservation of the dykes, that
a strong guard of cavalry and infantry was always in attend-
ance for their protection ; certain officers of responsibility were
appointed to superintend them , large sums of money were annu-
ally expended for their maintenance and repairs ; and in the time
of the Romans, any person found destroying a dyke was con-
demned to hard labor in the })ublic works or in the mines, or to
be branded and transported to the Oasis. According to Strabo,'^
the system was so admirably managed, ' that art contrived some-
times to supply what nature denied, and, by means of canals and
embankments, there was little difference in the quantity of land
irrigated, whether the inundation was deficient or abundant.'
If, continues the geographer, it rose only to the height of eight
cubits, the usual idea was that a famine would ensue, fourteen
being required for a plentiful harvest ; but when Petronius was
prefect of Egypt, twelve cubits gave the same abundance, nor
did they suffer from want even at eight ; and it may be supposed
that long experience had taught the ancient Egyptians to obtain
similar results from the same means, which, neglected at a subse-
quent period, were revived, rather than, as Strabo thinks, first
introduced by the Romans.
In some parts of Egypt the villages were frequently liable to
be overflowed, when the Nile rose to a more than ordinary lieight,
by which the lives and property of the inhabitants were endan-
gered , and when their crude brick houses had been long exposed
to the damp, the tbundations gave way, and the fallen walls,
saturated with water, were once more mixed with the mud from
which they had been extracted. On these occasions the blessings
of the Nile entailed heavy losses on the inhabitants ; and, as
Pliny * observes, '■ if the rise of the water exceeded sixteen cubits,
1 Diodor. i. 36. Woodcut No. 480, and Vignette B, vol. i. p. 28.
2 Strabo, xv. p. 487. <* Ibid, xviii. 542. •< Pliny, xviii. 18.
Chap. XI.] HEIGHT OF THE IXUXDATIOX. 431
a famine was the result, as when it only reached the height of
twelve.' In another place ^ he says, ' A proper inundation is of
sixteen cubits ; ... in twelve cubits the country suffers from
famine, and feels a deficiency even in thirteen ; fourteen cause
joy, fifteen security, sixteen delight ; the greatest rise of the river
to this period being of eighteen cubits in the reign of Claudius,
the least during the Pharsalic war.'
From all that can be learned respecting the rise of the Nile, it
is evident that the actual height of the inundation is the same now
as in former times, and maintains the same proportion with the
land it irrigates, and that, in order to arrive at great accuracy in
its measurement, the scales of the Nilometers ought, after certain
periods, to be raised in an equal ratio, as may be seen by any one
who visits those of Cairo and Elephantine : for the bed of the
river gradually rises from time to time ; and the level of the
land, which always keeps pace with that of the river, increases in
a ratio of six inches in 100 years in some places (as about Elephan-
tine), and in others less, varying according to the distance down
the stream : the consequence, and, indeed, the proof of which is,
that the highest scale in the Nilometer at the island of Elephan-
tine, which served to measure the inundation in the reigns of the
early Roman emperors, is now far below the level of the ordinary
high Nile ; and the obelisk of Matareeh or Heliopulis, the colossi
of the Theban plain, and other similarly situated monuments, are
washed by the waters of the inundation, and embedded to a certain
height in a stratum of alluvial soil deposited around their base.
The continual increase in the elevation of the bed of the river
naturally produced those effects mentioned by Herodotus and
other writers, who state that the Egyptians were obliged from
time to time to raise their towns and villages in order to secure
them from the effects of the inundation ; and that the same
change in the levels of the Xile and the land took })lace in former
ages as at tlie present day, is shown Ijy the fact of SalDaco having
found it necessary to elevate the towns throughout the country,
which bad been previously protected by similar means in the
reign of Sesostris — an interval of about 600 years. This was
done, says tlie historian of Halicarnassus, by the inhabitants of
each place who had been condemned for great crimes to the public
works. Bubastis was raised more than any other city ; and the
lofty mounds of Tel Basta, which mark its site, fully confirn?
1 Pliny, V. 9.
432 THE ANCIENT EGYPTIANS. [Chap. XI
the observation of Herodotus, and show, from the height of those
mounds above the present phiin, after a lapse of 770 years, that
'the Ethiopian monarch elevated the sites of the towns much
more than his predecessor Sesostris^ had done/ when that con-
queror employed his Asiatic captives in making the canals of
Egypt.'^ I have already stated that the land about Elephantine
has been raised about nine feet in 1700 years ; at Thebes, about
seven ; and in a less degree towards the Delta and the mouths of
the Nile ; and I shall now endeavor to explain in what manner
the elevations of the land and river have taken place, to compare
the measures of the inundation in the ancient and modern Nilo-
meters, and show what effect the alteration in the levels has had
on the arable land of Egypt. In that part of Egypt lying to
the S. of the Delta, the banks of the Nile are much more elevated
than the land of the interior at a distance from the river, and are
seldom quite covered with water even during the highest inun-
dations. Little, however, projects above the level of the stream,
and in some places the peasant is obliged to keep out the water
by temporary embankments. This may be accounted for partly
by the continued cultivation of the banks, which, being more
conveniently situated for artificial irrigation, have a constant
succession of crops ; for it is known that tillage has the effect of
raising land, from the accumulation of decayed vegetable sub-
stances, the addition of dressing, and other causes ; and the
greater depression of the plain in the interior is probably owing,
in some degree, to the numerous channels in that direction, and
to the effect of the currents which pass over it as the water covers
the land ; though they are not sufficient to account for the great
difference between the height of the bank and the land near the
edge of the desert, which is often twelve or fifteen feet, as may
be seen from the respective heights of the dykes at those
two points.^
These elevated roads, the sole mode of communication by
land from one village to another during the inundation, com-
mence on a level with the bank of the river, and, as they extend
to the interior, beco'me so much higher than the fields that room
is afforded for the construction of arches to enable the water to
pass through them ; though, generally speaking, bridges are only
built on those parts where ancient or modern canals have lowered
the levels sufficiently to admit of them. The general appearance
I Herodot. ii. 137 2 Ibid. ii. 1.08 and 137. " See Proc. Geogr. Society.
Chap. XL] ' DYKES. 488
of the dykes may be illustrated by a section,^ in which A is the
surface of the Nile during the inundation ; B, the level of the
low Nile ; c, the bank ; D D, the raised dyke ; E, the beds of
canals over which bridges are built in the dyke; F, the hdyey\
or slope of the desert, extending from the junction of the irri-
gated land at h to the limestone mountains, G.
This section is given as if the dyke were in one straight line
east or west from the river ; but they follow a tortuous course,
visiting the various towns on their way, and serving as roads, as
well as an impediment to the arbitrary overflow of tiie inundation :
the general direction of a dyke, therefore, varying according to
circumstances, maybe represented as in the accompanying plate.^
It is on a plain of about five miles in breadth. Some dykes are
even more circuitous and indirect than this ; but in all cases the
principal care is to place them so as to oppose the greatest force
to the largest body or pressure of water, and to offer the readiest
means of communication from one village to another. I have
already observed that the perpendicular elevation of the bed of
the river, and the proportionate elevation of the water of the
inundation, tend to increase the extent of the arable land of
Egypt ; and that there is now a larger tract of cultivable soil
E. and W. from the river than at any previous period. This I
shall endeavor to illustrate by a similar section,^ in which it
will be seen that if the Nile, rising from its ancient bed A b,
inundated the country in the direction and at the elevation E F,
it would, when raised to c d, its modern bed (the land being also
raised in proportion to G), extend its inundation on the line G H
to a far greater distance over the hdgei\ or slope of the desert,
and give an additional tract of cultivable land from F to h.
That this has actually taken place I have satisfactorily ascer-
tained by excavations, and by observing the quantity of alluvial
deposit accumulated round the base of ancient monuments, and
by a comparison of the height to which the water now rises and
formerly rose in the Nilometer of Elephantine. In the plain of
Thebes are some colossal statues of Amenophis III., of which two
still occupy their original site, and one of these has long been
known under the name of ' the vocal Memnon.' They stood on
either side of the dromos leading to a temple built by that
Pharaoh, and at intervals between them and the temple were
otlier colossi, statues, and tablets, long since thrown down or
mutilated, and nearly covered by the alluvial deposits of the
1 Plate XV. No. 1. 2 Nq. 2. 3 Xo. 3.
VOL. II. 28
434 THE ANCIENT EGYPTIANS. |Chap. XL
inundation. Their relative position may be better understood
from the plan,^ where it will be seen that before the temple, A,
are the tablets, b c, and 420 feet beyond are the fragments of a
colossus, E : then at a distance of 220 feet are another fallen
colossus, G, and, as a pendant to it, a group of comparatively
small figures, cut out of a single block, at f ; the colossi, H i,
which are still standing, being 300 feet further, and appearing
to terminate the dromos.
The temple is now surrounded by alluvial soil, and the water
and mud of the inundation extend to the distance of 600 feet
behind it. But when erected, about the year 1420 B.C., not only
the body of the temple, but the dromos, or paved road leading
to it, as well as the base of the colossi, H i, were above the
reach of the inundation ; and the statues at F, which are still
erect in their original position, were exposed to view, though
now buried to their waist in the alluvial deposit.
Indeed, I believe this dromos to have been a continuation of
the 'Royal street' mentioned in some papyri found at Thebes,
which, crossing the western portion of the city, communicated, by
means of a ferry, with the temple of Luxor, founded by the same
Amenophis, on the other side of the river ; as the great dromos of
Sphinxes, connecting the temples of Luxor and Karnak, formed
the main street in the eastern district of Thebes. The colossi,
H i, are 47 feet ^ high, with the pedestal 60; but the alluvial
deposit has accumulated around them to the height of from 6 feet
10 inches to 7 feet, so that they now stand only 53 feet above the
plain. ^ This was ascertained by excavating to the base of the
pedestal ; and having penetrated beneath it, I found that it stood,
not on alluvial ground, but on the soil of the desert, which was
paved with sandstone blocks, serving as substructions for the
colossus and the droynos. The lower side of the pedestal had not
been cut smooth, but was left of a round, irregular shape, extending
3 feet 10 inches below the level of the paved dromos; but that
was of little importance : the main point was to ascertain whether
the slope of the droynos corresponded with that of the desert ;
and this I proceeded to examine. I therefore dug to the base of
what I supposed to be part of a similar colossus at i^ 300 feet
behind the colossus h.^ This, however, proved to bo a group of
' Plate XV. No. 4. the statue inclines a little to one side, so
■'i By sextant I make the western colossus iliat it is ilitticiilt to ascertain the exact
47 ft.; and the other, bv actual measure- height of the iicdcstal. Sec Plate XV.
ment, 47 ft. 9 in. See Plate XV. No. 5. i Plate X\'. No (i.
3 The ground has sunk at the base, and
Chap. XI. ] INCREASE OF ALLUVIAL DEPOSIT. 435
statues — a circumstance particularly fortunate for my purpose, as
they were found to be standing in their original position. Their
total height was 8 feet 1 inch from tlie base of the pedestal to the
top of the shoulder, the part above that being broken off; they
projected 2 feet 10 inches above the level of the alluvial deposit,
so that it had accumulated in this part only 5 feet 3 inches.
This satisfactorily settled the question I had in view, and gave,
in a distance of 300 feet, a difference of 1 foot 7 inches to 1 foot
9 inches, being an average of 20 inches in 300 feet, or a decreasing
ratio of 1 inch in 15 feet for the talus of the sloping desert plain
on which they were placed. According to this ratio, the base-
ment of the temple itself should stand very little below the level
of the alluvial deposit, which, indeed, agrees with fact ; though,
as may be supposed, the slope of the desert is not quite so uniform
as to accord with the mathematical calculation of an uninter-
rupted line. It suffices for our purpose to have ascertained that
this gradual slope does exist, and that the colossi and the temple
standing upon it are buried in alluvial deposit in an inverse ratio
as they approach the edge of the desert ; and the only inference
necessarily is, that the alluvial soil now reaches further inland to-
wards the desert than it did when those monuments were erected.
We do not know how far the outermost colossi were, at that time,
beyond the line of the alluvial deposit : all we can conclude is,
that they were above its level, and that the dromos, or paved street,
was also above the highest water-mark ; but if it is out of our power
to fix any exact point from which to calculate the annual increase
of the perpendicular stratum of land, of this we may at least be
certain — that all the deposit now existing between the colossi,
H I, and the edge of the desert behind the temple, a total distance
of 1900 feet, has been brought there since the reign of the third
Amenophis, or within a period of 3260 years. What has now been
said, fully, I trust, demonstrates these propositions — that the
perpendicular rise of the bed of the Nile extends the inundation^
and alluvial deposit mucli further in a horizontal direction E. and
W. at the present day than at any previous i)eriod ; that this
cause has always been in operation ; and that, therefore, a wider
extent of irrigated land now exists than in former times. I do
not, however, pretend that the same quantity of land is cultivated
as formerly; this must always depend on the population, the
energies of the people, the system followed by the government,
and other accidental circumstances: but it is not the fault of the
river, nor from any deficiency in the benefits it used to bestow
436 THE ANCIENT EGYPTIANS. [Chap. XI.
on the soil of Egypt, that much land is left fallow, and over-
grown with noxious weeds ; and the modern inhabitants might
profit by the same means of cultivating the edge of the desert by
artificial irrigation as their predecessors, if Egypt only possessed
the advantages of population, a favorable system of agriculture,
and a wise government. I have made the same observations
respecting the extent of the land in other parts of Egypt, all
confirming what I have stated, as might be reasonably expected
since the same causes necessarily produce the same effects ; and
I now proceed to show the origin of those erroneous notions which
proclaim that the drifting sands have curtailed the limits of the
arable land of Egypt, and that the desert constantly encroaching
on the soil tlireatens to overwhelm the valley of the Nile, and
already counteracts the beneficial effects of the inundation.
In some parts of Egypt, as at Behnesa, at Kerdassy, a little
to the N. of the Pyramids, at Werdan, and at a few other places,
the sand of the Libyan desert has been drifted into the valley,
and has encumbered the land with hillocks and downs, spreading
itself over the fields near the edge of the desert, and sometimes
burying trees and buildings to the depth of several feet. This
has been particularly the case about Behnesa ; and Denon, who
visited it and witnessed the effect of the sand in that quarter,
spread the alarm of its invasion, which has been magnified into
the annihilation of the arable land of Egypt. But this evil is
only partial, and, as M. Reynier observes, in a memoir upon
the agriculture of Egypt, published in the great French work,^
' Though many have spoken of the encroachments of the sand
upon the cultivable soil, it appears to be much less considerable
than is supposed ; for otherwise many places indicated by ancient
writers to have been on the borders of the desert would now be
distant from the irrigated land, and the canal of Joseph, after so
many ages of bad government, would have been long since filled
up.' In some places, he adds, this has happened, as at Werdan,
in the province of Gizeh, where the sand has advanced to the
distance of a league ; but the position of the place — at the outlet
of a gorge in the Libyan Mountains ^ — is, perhaps, partly the
1 ' Memoires. sur I'lSg-ypte,' vol. iv. p. 5. W. to the extent that some have imaj>ined ;
2 [The only mountain where sand and if downs of sand have been raised here
abounds is certainlv the African ranjre; and there alonj? the edjie of tlie cultivated
and thouo^h there are some loftv drifts in land, the general encroachment is ffi'eatly
one place on the opposite side, just below in favor of the alluvial deposit. In Ethiopia
the modern Suez road, the eastern part of the sand has invaded tlie W. bank, but tliis
the valley of the Nile is generally free from is owing: to the fall in the level of the Nile.
it. It does not, however, encroach on the — G. W.]
Chap. XI. 1 ENCltOACHMENT OF THE SAND. 437
cause of this — an opinion which perfectly coincides with my
own observations. In many phices where valleys open upon the
plain the sand is found to accumulate, and sometimes to form
drifts upon the land, which, when no precautions are taken by
])lanting the bushy tamarisk, increase so far as to prevent the
overflow of the Nile from covering a portion of the previously-
irrigated soil ; but these incursions of sand are only partial,
and in particular spots, bearing a very small proportion to the
whole valley of Egypt ; and it must be remembered that the
desert, or gradual slope of the lidger^ between the limestone
range and the arable land, is not a plain of moving sand, as
some have imagined, but is composed of clay and stony ground
mixed with a proportion of sand, or an old detritus of the neigh-
boring rocks. On the eastern side of the valley very few sand-
drifts are to be met with, except those seen from Cairo, beyond
Heliopolis and the Birket el Hag, on the Suez road ; but these
do not encroach upon the arable land, from which they are far
distant ; and since I have shown that on the W. or Libyan side
also, the places where sand encumbers the valley are partial, it
may be readily imagined how slight an effect these must have
compared with the whole extent of the country. In the Delta
the only sandy jjlaces of consequence are here and there on the
Libyan shore and on the coast of the Mediterranean, bearing an
imperceptible proportion to the whole superficies of that jirov-
ince ; and, indeed, the sand on the coast is not worthy of notice,
nor can it be attributed in any way to the advance of the desert
upon the land of Egypt.
In many countries — as in France, about Dunkerque, the
Landes, and other places ; in Scotland, about Nairn ; and in several
parts of Europe — sand-drifts occur of great size and extent : but
the same theories are not formed upon their aggressions ; and we
have in this a proof how far opinions are influenced by the name
and by the idea of a desert. I am far from affirming that no
encroachment of the sand takes place ; my arguments are only
intended to show that, taking into consideration the relative
advance of the sand and of the alluvial deposit, the balance is
greatly in favor of the latter ; and the result is that, whatever
partial injury the sand may have it in its power to inflict on certain
spots, the extent of the land is constantly increasing, and the
number of square miles of inundated arable soil is much greater
now than at any previous period. I must also make some remarks
upon the nature of the desert, which will be found to differ much
438 THE ANCIENT EGYPTIANS. [Chap. XI.
from received opinion, as tlie simple mention of ranges of primi-
tive mountains reaching an elevation of 5000 feet will suffice to
show. I allude now to the desert lying between the Nile and
Red Sea ; but in order to give a just notion of this tract, and the
nature of the mountains in various parts, I must refer to Plate
XV., and to the accompanying sections in different latitudes.
The leading characteristic of the Eastern desert, particularly
in the northern part, is its gradual ascent from the valley of the
Nile to a certain distance eastward, wdiere you arrive at a plain
nearly level, and of some extent, from which all the valleys or
torrents running in a westerly direction empty themselves into
the Nile, and those to the eastward into the Red Sea, following
a descent in the opposite direction to the coast. A section taken
E. and W., about latitude 29°, will explain the appearance of the
desert in that part.^ These are all limestone mountains. The
ascent from the Nile to a is about 30 miles ; the high plain, a b,
is about 16 miles broad ; the descent then commences towards
the Red Sea, which is about 50 miles distant. In that part where
the primitive range commences and joins the secondary hills,
about latitude 28° 26', the section E. and W. presents the appear-
ance given in the next figure of the plate.^ In latitude 28° 10',
passing by the lofty Gharib, which is the highest i^eak in this
desert, having an elevation of about 6000 feet, the section is of
a different character.'^ Another section is taken in latitude 28°
from Gebel E'Zeyt, on the Red Sea, to Gebel Aboo Fayda on
the Nile.* The last of those in the Eastern desert, in latitude
27°,^ crosses the great range of the Ummumfaya, which is about
5000 feet high ; from a comparison of which it appears that this
desert has one general character in its levels from the Nile to
the Red Sea. A little above Esne, about latitude 25° 10', the
sandstones approach the Nile on the east bank ; a little further
south they cross the river, near Edfoo, whence they continue
on either bank ; and at Silsilis are the quarries from which the
sandstone used in the temples of Egypt was taken. Fourteen
miles above Ombos, and on the eastern bank, the granites
appear ; .and at E'Sooan, 14 miles further S., they cross the
river. Amidst these are the cataracts, a succession of rapids,
of which no single fall is more than about 5 feet.
In Nubia the valley is very narrow ; the rocks of the eastern
and western mountains often coming close to the river, and leaving
1 Plate XV. No. 7. 2 j^o. 8. s Xo. 9. * No. 10. 5 No. 11.
Chap. XL] THE WESTERN DESERT. 439
little or no space for the deposit of alluvium ; in other places ou
the Lib\'an side the sand covers the whole level space between
the hills and the bank ; and the character of the country between
the First and Second Cataract is totally different from Egypt.
The river about Kalabshe rises between 30 and 40 feet during
the inundation ; and after it has subsided, in February, the stream
runs at the rate of two or three knots an hour. But I return to
the deserts of Egj-pt.
In going to the Western or Libyan desert, in the direction of
the Oasis Parva, one road passes by the Fyo6m ; which province
is considerably lower than the valley of the Nile, and the Lake
Moeris is about 100 or 120 feet below the level of the banks at
Benisooef. I have given a section across that part of the country
from the Nile to the mountain range Ij'ing behind the Lake
Moeris,^ and thence to the Oases ; from which it is evident that
on leaving the Fyo6m in a southerly direction, or in going from
the Nile westward, you gradually ascend till you arrive at the
summit of an elevated plain, which continues on a level, or with
slight undulations, for a considerable distance, and forms t^e
extensive table-land of this part of Africa. The Oases and other
valleys are depressions in this lofty plain ; and on descending to
them, you find the level space or plain of the Oasis itself similar
to a portion of the Valley of Egypt, surrounded by steep cliffs of
limestone, at some distance from the cultivated land, which vary
in height in the different Oases. Those of the Southern Oases
are much higher, and consequently the level of those Oases is
much lower than of the Oasis Parva, as may be seen from the last
section, taken N. and S.^
From this it appears that the water of the Oasis Parva does
not come directly from the Nile, and that we must look for the
origin of its springs at a more southerly point. The mountains
of the high plain are limestone ; the low plain of the Oases is
sandstone on clay ; and it is from this last that the water rises,
and l)y this it is retained. The limestone mountains of the
Theba'id rest in like manner on clay ; and thus we may conclude
that the water is conveyed from some point to the south of, and
at a greater elevation than, the Oasis, its escape to the surface
taking place wherever the limestone superstratum is removed ;
and that a continuation of the same bed of clay conducts it
northward to the Oasis Parva — occasional opportunities being
1 ? late XV. No. 12. -^ No. 13.
440 THE ANCIENT EGYPTIANS. [Chap. XL
afforded it for rising, as at Farafreh and other places on the way.
Though I have represented tlie mountains as if the table-land of
their summit were perfectly level, in order to show the compar-
ative depressions of the Oases, it is not to be supposed that they
are perfectly horizontal : if so, those of Lower Egypt would be
more elevated than in the Thebaid, which is not the case ; the
mountains of Thebes being 1200 feet above the Nile, which is a
much greater elevation than any in the latitude of Cairo. From
what has been said it is evident that the Oases are not fertile
spots in the midst of a sandy plain, but depressions in the lofty
table-land of Africa, where, by the removal of the superincumbent
limestone strata, the water has the power of rising to the surface ;
nor is the desert a dreary plain of sand which has overwhelmed
a once fertile country, whose only traces are the isolated gardens
of the Oases, where the traveller runs a risk of being overwhelmed
by sand, as the army of Cambyses was reported to have been.^
The notion is of old date, from Herodotus to the modern traveller
who confines his experience to the valley of the Nile ; and if
Strabo were listened to, it would require some degree of courage
to visit the site of Memphis, lest, as he observes, the imprudent
stranger should expose himself to ' the danger of being overtaken
by a whirlwind on his way.' ^ Strabo, like other travellers, must
have braved great dangers during his voyage ; the ancients were
alarmed at the sand and wondrous monsters ; and we now often
read of narrow escapes from the effects of a simoom ; but however
disagreeable this really is, and though caravans run the risk of
losing their way if incautious enough to continue their route in
its dense fog of dust, and consequently to perish in this waterless
region, the very unpleasant death it has been reported to cause
is an exaggeration ; and, speaking from the exjjerience of many
a violent simoom in the most sandy parts of the desert, I can
only say that it is bad enough without being exaggerated, but
that it is much more frightful in a book of travels than in the
country itself.
A remarkable feature in the Valley of Egypt, which must
strike every one who crosses the edge of the alluvial land, is the
line of demarcation between this and the desert, which is so
strongly defined, that you may almost step with one foot upon tlie
richest, and with the other on the most barren land; for, as
1 Ammon. sand, and the dust of the Pharaohs bein^ united against it.
- Strabo, lib. xvii. p. 555.
Chap. XL] THE IIAGER. 441
Strabo says all is sterile in Egypt, where the Nile does not reach,
but it only requires to be irrigated by the fertilizing water of the
river to become productive ; as the flower of the female plant
only awaits the pollen of the male to cause it to produce — an
idea analagous to the fable of Osiris (as the inundation) approach-
ing the bed of Isis (the soil it irrigates), or more properly of
Nephthys (the barren land), who also produced a son on being
visited by Osiris.
Besides the land inundated by the Nile, the ancient Egj^p-
tians took into cultivation a considerable portion of the hdyer^
or edge of the desert, which, being a light soil, consisting of clay
mixed with sand or gravel, was peculiarly adajDted for certain
produce, particularly bulbous plants ; and many with long fibrous
roots were found to thrive in that soil. Those parts where a
greater proportion of gravel prevailed were peculiarly adapted to
the culture of the vine; and we are not surprised to find that the
wines of Marea ^ and other places situated at the confines of the
'desert, were superior in quality to those from the interior of
the irrigated land. In some places, as in the P^yo6m, where little
change has taken place in the appearance of the surface of the
land, I have frequently observed the traces of former cultivation ;
even the vestiges of fields appear, with channels for water, far
above the level of all modern canals ; and in the vicinity of the
Lake Mceris are several water-courses and canals, with the roots
of vines and other trees, which are distant more than twelve
from the nearest irrigated land. I do not pretend to affirm
that these are actually of the early time of the Pharaohs ; but
they doubtless owe their origin to the system of cultivating the
hdger adopted by the ancient Egyptians, and this extensive culture
of the vine is at least prior to the Arab invasion. Indeed, by
the universal confession of the inhabitants themselves, no canals
or cultivation have been maintained in this spot within the
period of Moslem records ; and tradition asserts that the province
1 [The town of Marea stood near tlie ' Mareotic,' meanincr ^Egyptian wine,*
lake to which it o-ave the name of ^Mareotis. points it out as the most noted of that
It was celebrated for the wine produced in country. AthenaMis says, 'Its color is
its vicinity, which appears to be included wiiite,'its quality cvcellent, and it is sweet
in the 'wine of the north country,' so often and ligrht, with "a fra<;rant bouquet, by no
menfioned in the lists of offerinjrs in the means' astrinjjent, and not aifectinsr the
Egyptian tombs. Strabo sa_vs, ' in this dis- head;' and Strabo <jives it the additional
trict is the greatest abundance of wine,' merit of keepinyrto a prreat aj:e Athen:i»us
which is confirmed by Athenaeus. Virjiil considers it inferior to the Teniotic; and
(Geor^. ii. 91) mentions the white wines of that of Authylla appears to have been pre-
the Mareotis, and the expression of Horace, fcrred to it and to all others. — G. W.]
442 THE ANCIENT EGYPTIANS. [Chap. XI.
of Fydom, which now contains about eighty vilhiges, had once
more than four times that number in the flourishing peiiods of
the Pharaonic kings.
During the inundation, when the Nile had been admitted by
the canals into the interior, and the fields were subjected to the
fertilizing influence of its waters, the peasantry indulged in
various amusements which this leisure period gave them time to
enjoy. 1 Their cattle were housed and supplied Avith dry food,
which had been previously prepared for the purpose ; the tillage
of the land and all agricultural occupations were suspended; and
this season was celebrated as a harvest home, with games and
recreations of every kind. They indulged in feasting and the
luxuries of the table ; games were celebrated in some of the prin-
cijjal towns, in which the competitors contended for prizes of
cattle, skins, and other things suited to the taste or wants of the
peasant, and some amused themselves with wrestling-matches,
bull-fights, and gymnastic exercises, which, while they suited the
habits of an active and robust people, contributed to invigorate '
them, and to prevent the baneful effects of indolence during a
period of repose from the labors of the field. According to
Julius Pollux,'-^ the Song of Maneros was among those adopted by
the Egyptian peasant ; and this fabled personage was celebrated
as the inventor of husbandry — an honor generally given to the
still more fabulous Osiris. It is probable that many songs and
games were appropriated to certain festivals : and this adaptation
of peculiar ceremonies to particular occasions, and the aversion of
the Egyptians for any change in the customs of their ancestors,
are remarked by several ancient writers.^ They had many festi-
vals connected with agriculture and the produce of the soil, which
happened at different periods of the year. In the month Mesore,
they offered the first-fruits of their lentils to the god Harpocrates,
' calling out at the same time, " The tongue is Fortune, the tongue
is God;"'* and the allegorical festival of 'the delivery of Isis
was celebrated immediately after the vernal equinox,'^ to com-
memorate the beginning of harvest. 'Some,' says Plutarch,
'assimilate the history of th(jse gods to the various changes whicli
happen in the air during the several seasons of the year, or to
those accidents which are observed in the production of corn in its
sowing and ripening ; "for" they observe, "what can the burial
of Osiris more aptly signify than the first covering of the seed
1 Diodor. i. 36. - Jul. Poll. iv. 7. ^ Herodot. ii. 79.
4 Plut. de Isid. s. 68. 6 ibid. s. 65.
Chap. XL] FETES OF THE HUSBANDMEN. 443
in the ground after it is sown? or his reviving and reappearing
than its first beginning to shoot up ? and why is Isis said, upon
perceiving herself to be with child, to have hung an amulet about
her neck on the 6th of the month Paophi, soon after sowing
time, but in allusion to this allegory ? and who is that Harpoc-
rates whom they tell us she brought forth about the time of the
winter U^ople, but those weak and slender shootings of the corn,
which are yet feeble and imperfect?" — for which reason it is that
the first-fruits of their lentils are dedicated to this god, and they
celebrate the feast of his mother's delivery just after the vernal
equinox.' From this it may be inferred that the festival of the
lentils was instituted when the month Mesore coincided with the
€nd of March ; for since they were sown at the end of November,
and ripened in about 100 or 110 days, the first-fruits might be
gathered in three months and a half, or, as Plutarch tells us,
* just after the vernal equinox,' or the last week in March. It is
not stated on what day of Mesore this festival took place ; we can,
therefore, only arrive at an approximate calculation respecting
the period when it was first instituted ; which, supposing it to
have fallen in the middle of the month, will carry it back 2650
years before our era, 330 years before the accession of Menes.
' On the 19th day of the first month (Thoth), which was the feast
of Hermes,^ they eat honey and figs, saying to each other," How
sweet a thing is truth ! " ' — a satisfactory proof that the month
itself, and not the first day alone, was called after and dedicated
to Thoth, the Egyptian Hermes; and another festival, answering
to the ' Thesmophoria of the Athenians,' was established to com-
memorate the period when ' the husbandmen began to sow their
corn in the Egyptian month Athor.' ^ Many of the sacred festi-
vals of the Egyptians were connected with agriculture ; but these
I shall have occasion to notice under the head of their religious
ceremonies.
I now proceed to another point connected with the occupa-
tions of the peasantry — the care and rearing of animals. The
rich proprietors of land possessed a large stock of sheep, goats,
and cattle; gazelles, and other wild animals of the desert, were
tamed and reared with great care on their estates ; and they
bestowed the greatest attention to the breed of horses, asses,
and other beasts of burden. The pastors, it is true, were a class
apart from the peasantry, and one which was held in disrepute
1 Plut. de Isicl. s. 68. 2 ibid. s. 69.
444 THE ANCIENT EGYPTIANS. [Chap. XI.
by the Egyptians, partly in consequence of the nature of their
occupation, and partly from the feeling excited against them by
the remembrance of cruelties exercised upon their country by a
shepherd race, which had held Egypt in subjection during a long
period ; and the swineherds were looked upon with such abhor-
rence that Herodotus affirms they could not even enter a temple^
or contract marriages with any except of their own caste. But
the denomination of pastors did not extend to the farmers who
bred sheep or cattle ; it merely applied to those who tended the
flocks, or had their immediate care ; and the Egyptian artists,
as if to show the contempt in which these people were held,
frequently represented them lame or deformed, dirty and un-
No. 481. A deformed oxlierd. Tombs near the Pyramids.
shaven, and sometimes of a most ludicrous appearance. This
feeling, however, was not carried to the extent mentioned by
Josephus,^ who asserts that 'the Egyptians were prohibited to
meddle with the feeding of sheep ; ' and the sculptures of Thebes^
and every part of Upper and Lower Egypt, abundantly prove
them to have kept numerous flocks and herds, which were tended
by native Egyptians. Their condition was humble ; they lived
in sheds ^ made of reeds, easily moved from place to place, which
continued to be used by them to the time of Diodorus, as they
are by the Ababdeh tribe, a pastoral race, in the ujDper part of
the Thebaid, to the present day; and it is probable that parts of
Egypt, peculiarly adapted for pasture, were inhabited by large
bodies of native shepherds, distinct from those employed by rich
individuals upon their own farms.
In the extensive domains of wealthy landed proprietors, those
who tended the flocks and herds were overlooked by other per-
sons connected with the estate. The peasant who tilled the land
1 Joseph. Antiq. ii. 7, 5. 2 Diodor. i. 43.
Chap. XL]
REARING OF ANIMALS.
U5
on which they were fed was responsible for their proper main-
tenance, and for the exact account of the quantity of food they
consumed ; some persons were exclusively employed in the care
of the sick, which were kept at home in the farmyard ; the super-
intendent of the shepherds regulated the different arrangements
connected with them, determined respecting those which were to
graze in the field and those which were to be stall-fed, and
attended at stated periods to give a report to the scribes be-
longing to the estate, by whom it was submitted to the steward,
and the latter was responsible to his employer for this as well
as every other portion of his possessions.
In the accompanying woodcut the head shepherd presents
himself to give an account of the stock upon the estate, and
behind him are the flocks
committed to his charge,
consisting of sheep, goats,
and wild animals belonging
to the person of the tomb,
in which this subject is re-
presented ; and the expres-
sive attitude of this figure,
with his hand to his mouth,
is well imagined to convey
the idea of his endeavor to
recollect the numbers he is
giving from memory to the
scribes.
The shepherds on the
estate were chosen by the Before ri(/. l is the satch . and above ,ti(j. 2 the box
"^ . for hokling writing implements and papyri. Tliey
steward, who aSCertamed are writing on boards : in their left hands are the
. 1 1 -ii inkstands with black and red inli.
their character and skill,
previous to their being appointed to so important a trust : as is
shown to have been done in the case of the Israelites, on their
arrival in the land of Goshen ; Pharaoh expressly commanding-
Joseph, whom he had made superintendent ' over all the land
of Egypt,' to select from among his brethren such as were skilful
in the management of the flocks or herds, and ' make them rulers
over his cattle.' ^
The cattle were brought into a court attached to the steward's
Giving an account to the scribes of the stock
on tlie estate.
No. 482. 'J'hehes.
1 Gen. xlvii. 6. The royal cattle were their numbers, as ' Palace —86,' ' Palace —
arauded or tattooed on their rnmps witli 43 ' (Rosellini, ' jNIon. Civili,' xxx.). - S. IJ.
446
THE ANCIENT EGYPTIANS.
[Chap. XI.
house,^ or into the farmyard, aucl counted by the superintendent
in the presence of the scribes. Every care was taken to prevent
or detect frauds, and the bastinado was freely administered,
whenever the peasant or the shepherd neglected the animals
entrusted to his care.
The accompanyijrg woodcuts fully illustrate the mode of
bringing the cattle ; and woodcut No. 484 is particularly in-
teresting from the numbers being written over the animals,
answering, no doubt, to the report made to the steward, who, in
the presence of the master of the estate, receives it from the
1 The headman of the cattle was the mer
aha : such officers are found attached to
the cattle of the temple of Amen-ra at
Thebes, and to the royal cattle. — S. B.
Chap. XL] HERDSMEN'S ACCOUNT OF CATTLE. 447
head shepherd. First come the oxen, over which is the number
834, cows 220, goats 3234, asses 760, and sheep 974 ; behind
wiiieh follows a man carrying baskets slung upon a pole. The
steward, leaning on his staff and accompanied by his dog.i stands
' Another tomb lias a similar scene, in
the text of which are mentioned 132 oxen,
100 + x sheep, goats (ser), 1200 kids, and
1500 pigs. (Rosellini, ' Moniimenti Civili,'
XXX.)— S. B.
448
THE AXCIEXT EGYPTIANS.
[Chap. XI.
on the left of the jjicture ; and in another part of the tomb,
the scribes are represented making out the statements presented
to them by the different persons employed on the estate. The
tomb where this subject occurs is hewn in the rock near the
Pyramids of Gizeh, and possesses additional interest from its
great antiquity, having the name ^ of a king wlio lived about
the era of the founders of those monuments, as well as from
the subjects it contains, which show^ tlie Egyptians to have had
No. 485.
Geese brought and nuniberetl. British Museum — from Thebes.
Fif). 1. A scribe. 2. Men bringing eggs in bnskets. 3. One of tbe feeders of geese. 4.
Table.' on which are baskets containing eggs and flowei-s. 5. The scribe reading the account
before the stewar^l or master of the estate, written on a papyrus he holds in his hands. 6.
Men bringing the goslings in baskets. 7. The feeders of the geese doing obeisance ; others
seated in an altitude of respect ; and, 8, bowing as he brings up the geese with their young.
9. A large flock of geese brought by others, 10, II, 12.
the same customs at that early time, and to have arrived at
the same state of civilization as in the subsequent ages of the
18th and later Dynasties, — a fact which cannot but suggest
most interesting thoughts to an inquiring mind, respecting the
state of the world at that remote period.-
' Woodcut Xo. 419,.;?^. 4.
- In tlie letters of .Vmencman, Xo. II.,
the Avriter says, ' If there are not oven in
the stall of the house of Phaiaoh, which is
under my keepincf, send four oxen, the
verv best and bifr<rest,' &c, (Goodwin,
'Cambridgre Essays,' 18.^8, p. 248 ) \w\
ajrain. Letter III., Pentaur replies. ' His
oxen which are in the fields are well, the
oxen which are in the stalls are well, eating-
their provender daily ; yea, their keeper
filleth them with provender.' (Ibid. p.
249.) Numerous oven were i^iven to the
temples of Thebes, .Memphis, and Helio-
polis, by Rameses III., taken from the
Mashuaslia and their confederates ('Rec-
ords of the Past," vi. pp. 35, 45); 544 to
Heliopolis alone (ibid. p. 59). The price
Chap. XL] SKILL IN KEAKING ANIMALS. 449
An account of the geese and other fowl was also brought to
the steward at the same time ; and so scrupulous were they in
the returns made to him, that the number of eggs was even
ascertained and reported, with the same care as the calves, or
the offspring of the Hocks.
Everything in Egypt was done by writing. The scribes were
employed on all occasions, whether to settle public or private
questions, and no bargain of any consequence was made without
being sanctioned by the voucher of a written document. The
art of curing disease in animals of every kind, both quadrupeds
and birds, was carried to great perfection by the Egyptians ..
and the authority of ancient writers and of the sculjitures is
curiously confirmed by a discovery of the learned Cuvier, who,
finding the left humerus of a mummied ibis fractured, and re-
united in a particular manner, proved the intervention of human
art. The skill they possessed, says Diodorus,^ in rearing animals,
was the result of knowledge inherited from their parents, and
subsequently improved by their own observation, their whole
lives being occupied in this pursuit ; and the information handed
down to them respecting the best mode of treating cattle when
ill, and their proper food at all times, was increased not only by
the improvements arising from continued experience, but by the
emulation common to all men. ' What most excites our wonder,'
adds the historian, 'and deserves the greatest praise, is the
industry shown by the rearers of fowls and geese, who, not
contented with the course of natural procreation known in other
countries, hatch an infinite number of birds by an artificial
process. Dispensing with the incubation of the hens, they with
their own hands bring the eggs to maturity, and the young
chickens thus produced are not inferior in any respect to those
hatched by natural means.' ^ This artificial contrivance has
been handed down to the present day, and continues to be
employed by the modern inhabitants of Egypt, particularly the
Co]its, who may be considered to have the best claim to the title
of descendants of the ancient Egyptians.^ The custom is for
the proprietors of the ovens to make the round of the villages
in the vicinity, to collect the eggs from the peasants, and to
give them in charge to the rearers, who, without any previous
of an ox is criven as 119 ten, or pounds of i Diodor. i. 74.
bronze. (Cbabas, ' Melanges,' 1870, p, 2 Conf. Plin. x. M.
222.') — S. B. 3 ' Egypt and Thebes,' p. 246.
VOL. II. 29
450
THE ANCIENT EGYPTIANS.
[Chap. XL
examination, place all they receive on mats strewed with bran, in
a room about 11 feet square, with a flat roof, and about 4 feet
in height, over which is another chamber of the same size, with
a vaulted roof, and about 9 feet high ; a small aperture in the
centre of the vault (at /) admitting light during the warm
weather, and another (g) of larger diameter, immediately below,
No. 4.
.Modern oveus for hatcbiug eggs.
Fig. 1. Plan of the building, showing the form of the upper rooms A A, the entrance room
G G, and the passage f. e e, the aperture communicating with the oven.
2. Section of the same, showing the upper rooms, a and b.
3. Plan of upper room, in which the fires are placed at a 6 and c d.
4. Lower room, in which the eggs are placed.
5, 6. Sections from the back and front of the upper and lower rooms, A and b.
communicating with the oven, through whose ceiling it is
pierced. By this also the man descends to observe the eggs :
but in the cold season both are closed, and a lamp is kept
burning within ; another entrance at the front part of the oven,
or lower room, being then used for the same purpose, and shut
immediately on his quitting it. By way of distinction, I call
the vaulted (a) the upper room, and the lower one (b) the oven.
Chap. XI.] EGGS HATCHED AKTIFICIALLY. 451
In the former are two fires in the troughs, a b and e d, which,,
based with earthen shibs, three-quarters of an inch thick, reach
from one side to the other, against the front and back walls.
These fires are lighted twice a day ; the first dies away about
midday ; and the second, lighted at 3 p.m., lasts until 8 o'clock.
In the oven, the eggs are placed on mats strewed with bran, in
two lines corresponding to and immediately below the fires, a h
and c d, where they remain half a day. The}' are then removed
to a c and b d; and others (from two heaps in the centre) are
arranged at a b and c c?, in their stead ; and so on, till all have
taken their equal share of the warmest positions ; to which
each set returns again and again, in regular succession, till the
expiration of six days.
They are then held up, one by one, towards a strong light ;
and if the eggs appear clear, and of a uniform color, it is
evident they have not succeeded ; but if they show an opaque
substance within, or of the appearance of different shades, the
chickens are already formed ; and they are returned to the oven
for four more days, their positions being changed as before. At
the expiration of the four days they are removed to another oven,
over which, however, are no fires. Here they lie for five days in
one heap, the apertures (?,/) and the door (^) being closed with
tow to exclude the air ; after which they are placed separately
about one or two inches apart, over the whole surface of the
mats, which are sprinkled with a little bran. They are -at this
time continually turned, and shifted from one part of the mats to
another, during six or seven days, all air being carefully ex->
eluded ; and are constantly examined by one of the rearers, who
applies each singly to his upper eyelid. Those which are cold
prove the chickens to be dead, but warmth greater than the
human skin is the favorable sign of their success. At length
the chicken, breaking its egg^ gradually comes forth: and it is
not a little curious to see some half exposed and half covered
by the shell ; while they chirp in their confinement, which they
evince the greatest eagerness to quit. The total number of days
is generally twenty-one, but some eggs with a thin shell remain
only eighteen. The average of those that succeed is two-thirds,
which are returned by the rearers to the proprietors, who restore
to the peasants one-half of the chickens ; the other being kept
as payment for their expenses. The size of the building de-
pends, of course, on the means of speculation of the proprietors:
but the general plan is usually the same ; being a series of eight
452
THE ANCIENT EGYPTIANS.
[GiiAP. XI.
*%f*
or ten ovens or upper rooms, on either side of a passage about
100 feet by 15, and 12 in lieight. The thermometer in any part
is not less than 24° Keaum, or
86° Fahr. ;^ but the average heat
in the ovens does not reach the
4/^ ^r— ^A^X^/?R>J is ''-" temperature of fowls, which is
AlT /^ UY^ I '7 5s 32°Reaum.
yfi V Tit *?!/>/ 5P So Excessive heat or cold are
equally prejudicial to this pro-
cess ; and the only season of the
year at which they succeed is
from the 15th of Imsheer (23d
of February) to the 15th of
Baramooden (24tli of April),
beyond which time they can
scarcely reckon upon more than
two or three in a hundred.
74c: ' ^ T^Ji ^ ^ ^^ ^^^^ great care bestowed by
•^ '^■^^^^^ \ — II ^ •^ - -- the shepherd on the breed of
sheep was attended with no less
important results. They were
twice shorn, and twice brought
forth lambs, in the course of a
year;^ — a circumstance fully
proved by modern experience,
whenever sufficient care is tak-
en by the shepherd. But though
Diodorus is perfectly correct in
this part of his statement, he
seems to be in error respecting
the nature of the pasture on
which they were fed, when he
suggests that the mere acci-
dental produce of the land after
the inundation sufficed for this
pur2:)0se : for it is far more rea-
sonable to suppose that former-
ly, as at the present day, they
were supplied with particular
food cultivated expressly for them; and from his referring to the
w -s
5"-
■c 5
an 2
o3
o *^
J Mr. Ilauulton mentions the heat of 88° Falir.
2 Diodor. i. 36.
Chap. XL] MEDICAL TREATMENT OF ANIMALS.
453
period of the inundation, we may suggest that his remark '>
founded on the fact of their growing clover for the flocks ana
lierds at that season, as is still the custom in Egypt. Those
who exercised the veterinary art were of the class of shepherds.
They took the utmost care of the animals, providing them with
proper food, which they gave them with the hand, and pre-
paring for them whatever medicine they required, which they
forced into their mouths. Their medical aid was not confined
to oxen and sheep ; it extended also to the oryx, and other
animals of the desert they tamed or bred in the farmyard ; and
the poulterers bestowed the same care upon the geese and fowls.
Indeed, the numerous lierds of the ibex, gazelle, oryx, and other
of the antelope tribe, show, equally with their advancement in
veterinary art, the great attention paid to the habits of animals:
the wild and timid antelopes were rendered so tame as to be
driven to the census in the farmyard, like the sheep and goats ;
and the fowlers were no less successful in their mode of rearing
the vulpanser geese, and other wild fowl of the Nile.^
' Barneses IIL gave to Ileliopolis, be-
sides stables for oxen, apartments to bring
lip fowls anew with geese and ducks.
('Records of tlie Past,' vi. p. 55.) He
gave 17,250 water-fowl in the conrse of his
reign of thirty-two years (ibid. p. 64). Be-
sides geese, goslings, doves, and various
birds were given to the same, and 4339
fowl to ISIemphis. Both pigeons, kar em
pe, tlie Coptic shrompi, and ring-doves
menat, appear in the list. — S. B.
\_
No. 488. I'loleniy prostrate before Isis, who says, ' I give you all countries.'
ViGXETTE L.
Pavilion of Uaiiieses IJI. at .Medeenet Ilabod.
Thebes,
CHAPTER XII.
Reliorioiis Opinions of the Efryptians — The Greeks borrowed many of their Notions on
Relioion from Egypt — The Idea of the Deity entertained hy the Priests different
from that taught to the uninitiated — Nature of the Gods — Numbers — The Deity
manifested upon Earth — Theories in Greek Writers — The great Gods — Triads.
Before we examine the nature of the Pantheon, or the attri-
butes of the deities worshipped by the Egyptians, it will be
proper to take a general view of their religious opinions, inti-
mately connected as they were with the manners and 'customs
of the people.
Superstitiously attached to their sacred institutions, and
professing a religion which admitted much outward show, the
Egyptians clothed their ceremonies with all the grandeur of
solemn pomp ; and the celebration of their religious rites was
remarkable for all that human ingenuity ccnild devise, to render
them splendid and imposing. They prided themselves on being
the nation in whom had originated most of the sacred institutions
afterwards common to other people, who were believed to have
adopted them from Egypt ; and the mysterious nature and
attributes of the deity, though presented under a different form,
were recognized by the Egyptians as a direct emanation from the
metaphysical philosophy of their priesthood. They claimed the
merit of being the first who had consecrated each month and
day ^ to a particular deity; — a method of forming the calendar
1 Herodot. ii. 82.
454
Chap. XII. ] RELIGIOUS OPINIONS. 455
which has been imitated, and preserved to the present day ; the
Egyptian gods having yielded their places to those of another
Pantheon, which have in turn been supplanted by the saints of a
Christian era; — and they also considered themselves the first ^ to
suggest the idea of foretelling from the natal hour^ the future
fortunes of each new-born infant, the life he was destined to lead,
or the death he was fated to die, which were boldly settled by as-
trological prediction.^ ' The Greeks,' saj^s Herodotus,'* ' borrowed
the science of astrology from the Egyptians, but that people
have invented more prodigies than all the rest of mankind.
They observe and note down every occurrence, as well as what-
ever follows it ; and then carefully watching those of a similar
nature, they predict the issue from analogy, being persuaded
that it will be the same.' In like manner, observes the historian,
to the Egyptians is conceded the honor of teaching mankind
the proper mode of approaching the Deity ;'^ and Lucian ^ asserts,
' that they were reputed the first who had a conception of the
gods, an acquaintance with religious matters, and a knowledge
of sacred names,' — an opinion expressed in the words of an oracle
of Apollo quoted by Eusebius, which declares that 'they, before
all others, disclosed by infinite actions the path that leads to
the gods.' And lamblichus" not only considers them 'the first
of men who were allow^ed to partake of the favor of the gods,
but that the gods when invoked rejoiced in the rites of Egypt.'
The inspection of the entrails of victims, the study of omens,
and all those superstitious customs which the religions of anti-
quity so scrupulously observed, were deemed highly important
among the Egyptians; and the means adopted for divining
future events, or the success of any undertaking, were as varied
and fanciful as the derh e rummel, and other trials of chance
used by Oriental people at the present day.^
They even, says Plutarch,^ ' look upon children as gifted
with a kind of faculty of divination, and they are ever anxious
1 Herodot. ii 82. s lamblich. de Myst. viii.6; ' Accord-
2 Tlie Papyrus Sallier IV. is a calendar injr to many of the Ejryptians, that whicli
or almanac of this nature. The (jarticular is in our power depends on the motion of
(jods and mythical events of each day are the stars.'
specified, as also the things to do and avoid, ■* Herodot. ii. 82.
and~the fate of persons born on particular 5 Ibid. ii. 58.
days. Each day was divided into three 6 Lucian, de Syria Dea.
portions, and the terms jrood or bad applied " lamblich. de Myst. sect. vii. 5.
to it in accordance with its character. s Lane's 'Modern Egyptians,' vol. i. p.
(Chabas, ' Calendrier Sallier,' p. 21, 8vo. S4:l,etgeq.
Paris.) — S. B. « Pint, de Isid. et Osir. s. 14.
456 THE ANCIENT EGYPTIANS. [Ciiaf. XII.
to observe the accidental prattle they talk during pla}-, espe-
cially if it be in a sacred place, deducing from it presages of
future events.' Omens were frequently drawn from common
accidents, as tokens of good and bad luck ; and thus the
circumstance of the engineer sighing, while he superintended
the transport of a monolithic shrine from Elephantine to Sa'i's,
was sufficient to stop its further progress, and to prevent its
introduction into the sacred place intended for its reception ; ^
and Amasis, though a man of strong mind, and more free from
prejudices than the generality of his countrymen, was induced
to give way to this superstitious fancy. Sacrifices of meat
offerings, libations, and incense were of the earliest date in their
temples ; an(J if the assertions of Proclus be true, that ' the first
people who sacrificed did not offer animals, but herbs, flowers,
and trees, with the sweet scent of incense,' and that 'it was
unlawful to slay victims,' they only apply to the infant state of
mankind, and not to that era when the Egyptians had already
modelled their religious habits and belief into the form presented
to us by the sculptures of their monuments. And when he adds,
that •• no animal should be offered in sacrifice to the gods, though
permitted both to good and evil daemons,' we are not to conclude
that the victims slain before the altars in the Egyptian sculptures
were confined to the minor deities, or that this typical institu-
tion had not its origin in a very remote age.^ Macrobius, indeed,
affirms ^ that ' it was never permitted to the Egyptians to pro-
pitiate the gods with the slaughter of animals, nor with blood,
but with prayers and incense alone ; ' an idea expressed also by
Ovid,'^ who says that men in former times were reported to have
made use of milk^ and whatever herbs the earth spontaneously
produced, and every one offered for himself the sacrifice he had
vowed. But these remarks do not apply to the Egyptians, who
offered victims on the altars of all their gods ; and the privilege
mentioned by Ovid, which ever}' individual enjoyed, of offering
for himself his own sacrifice, though permitted to the Jews before
1 Herodot. ii. 175. 3000 bulls.' (' Records of the Past,' vol. ii.
2 The only example of actual saci-ifice p. 70.) Rauieses III. also speaks of sacri-
in the sculptures is that of Ptolemy Euer- fices (Ibid. vols. vi. and viii.). — S. B.
gates I. saci-ifjcintr an oryx _ to the <;od 3 Macrob. Sat. i. 4. He is even uuilty
Chons (Champollion, Panth. Kjjypt.) ; but of statinjj this to be the case under the
sacrifices of animals are mentioiied in the Ptolemies, when Serapis and Saturn were
texts, as in the poem of Pcntaur al)out introduced into Egypt.
Rameses H.. the king says, ' I have en- ■* Ovid, Fast. lib. v.
nchcd thy sacrifices, I have slain to thee ^ Plin. xiv. 12.
Chap. XII. ] SACRIFICES. 457
the Exodus, seems only to have been conceded to the Egyptians
on particular occasions. With the Israelites, the custom was to
offer fruits, the fat and milk of animals, the Heeces of sheep, or
the blood and flesh of victims ; the right of making the offering
being usually confined to the elders to the head of a family, and
to those who were most esteemed for virtue, or venerated for
their age. When keeping the sacrifice of the Passover, they
were commanded to ' take every man a lamb, according to the
house of their fathers, a lamb for an house,' 'a male of the first
year,' ' either from the sheep, or from the goats ; ' ^ and to the
head of the family belonged the honor of slaying the victim in
the name of the whole house. This custom is retained in the
East to the present day ; and the sheikh of a tribe, or the master
of a house, is expected to slay the victim of the feast of the Eed^
which the Arabs and other Moslems celebrate on the 10th day
of Zoolhegh, the last month of their year. The ceremony is
performed in commemoration of the sacrifice of Abraham ; and
it is remarkable that this patriarchal privilege has never been
transferred by them to the priests of the religion. Another
point which appears singular to us in this traditional custom is,
that the ram then slain is said to be a record of the substitute
presented to Abraham in lieu of his son Ishmael, and not of
Isaac. The earliest sacrifices of animals appear to have been
holocausts ; and, as it was deemed unlawful to eat it, the flesh of
the victim was consumed by fire : but in after-times, as with the
Jews, certain portions only were burnt, and in some cases the
residue belonged to the priest who sacrificed, or to the individual
who made the offering.^ And if the fruit of the earth may be
considered the first offering made by man,^ yet a ' firstling of the
flock, and the fat thereof,' were the sacrifice looked upon as
peculiarly acceptable to the Deity ; * and most people appear to
have adopted this method of propitiating Him, and of expiating
sin. Indeed, it always continued to be regarded as the most
suitable species of offering ; and the descriptive formula on
Egyptian tablets dedicated to Osiris, and to some other deities,
is so worded as to leave no doubt respecting the nature of the
most important Egyptian sacrifices ; in which we find oxen and
geese, with cakes and wine, incense and libation, invariably
n:ientioned ; flowers and herbs being presented as a separate
oblation.
1 Exod. xii. 3, 5. s Gen. iv. 3.
2 As in the peace-offerings. Levit viii. 31. * Gen. iv. 4, 5.
458 THE ANCIENT EGYPTIANS. [Chap. XII.
The sanction given for sacrificing a bull was by a papyrus
band tied by the priest round the horns, which he stamped
with his signet on sealing-clay. Documents sealed with fine
clay and impressed with a signet are very common ; but the
exact symbols impressed on it by the priest on this occasion are
not known. Castor says they consisted of a man kneeling, with
his hands tied behind him, and a sword pointed to his throat
which were probably the annexed, though they have not been
^ _ ^ found on a seah The clay used in closing and
-^^^ &^ sealing pa^jyri is of very fine quality. A similar
_^^^J/lf kind was employed for official seals by the Greeks
^J ' and Assyrians.
sma, 'to cut.' YYg learn from the sculptures that the victim,
having its feet tied together, was thrown on the ground ; and
the priest, having placed his hand on its head ^ or holding it
by the horn, cut its throat, apparently from ear to ear, as is the
custom of the Moslems at the present da3^ The skin was then
removed, and after the head had been taken away, the foreleg or
shoulder, generally the right,^ was the first joint cut off. This
was considered, and called, the chosen part (sapt^^ and was the
first offered on the altar. The other parts were afterwards cut up ;
and the shoulder, the thigh, the head, the ribs, the rump, the heart,
and the kidneys, were the principal ones placed on the altar. The
No. iSS. Sacrificial parts of animals.
1. Hauuch, \eps'. 2. Shoulder, sut. 3. Heart, hat or abt. 4. Kidneys, nes'em. 5. Ribs,
sjnr or spell. 6. Rump or buttock, saf. 7,8. Other joints. 9. Liver.
head, which Herodotus says was either taken to the market and
sold to strangers, or thrown into the river, is as common on the
altars as any other joint, and an instance sometimes occurs of the
whole animal being placed upon it. We may therefore conclude
that the imprecations he says were called down upon the head
were confined to certain occasions and to one particular victim, as
in the case of the scapegoat of the Jews,^ and it was of that par-
1 Levit. i. 4; iii. 8. » Of. Levit. vii. 33, viii. 25; 1 Sam. ix. 24.
2 Levit. viii. 26. * Levit. xvi. 8, 10, 21.
Chap. Xll. |
SACRIFICES.
459
ticular animal that no Egyptian would eat the head. It may not
have been a favorite joint, since we find it given to a poor man
for holding the walking-sticks of the guests at a party ; but he
No. 490. Wall-painting from a tomb.
The inscription on the left is ' A roval ottering to Ra, a royal ottering to Seb, and the
circle <if the great gods of the southern hemisphere.' That on the right, which is imperfect,
reads, 'In his house justified he receives . . . ' Before the feet of tlie seateil tigure. at the
right is, ' thousands of bread and beer, of flesli and fowl, of clothes and fabrics, of incense
and wax,' the usual sepulchral forniuhi ; and on the left the name of his sou Aahnies (,4),
whose hand otters the bunch of flowers.
was an Egyptian, not a foreigner, and this is in the paintings
of a tomb at Thebes, of the early time of the 18th Dynasty.
Homer's description of the mode of slaughtering an animal ^
1 II. A, 4.59.
460
THE ANCIENT EGYPTIANS.
[Chap. XIL
is very similar : ' They drew back the head and killed it, and
after skinning it they cut off the legs, which being wrapped
up in the fat (caul) folded double, the}' placed portions of raw
meat thereon ; an old man then burnt it on split wood, and
poured black wine on it, while the
young men beside him held five-
pronged spits. When the legs
(thighs and shoulders) were burnt,
and they had tasted the "inward
parts," they cut the rest into small
pieces, and put them on skewers
y ,y'^Cy^\~^y (spits), roasting them cleverly, and
jm took all off again.'
No. 491. otferiugs on a basket or mat. Shccp are ucvcr represented on
the altar, or slaughtered for the table,
at Thebes, though they were kept there for their wool ; and
Plutarch says, 'Noi>e of the Egyptians eat sheep, except the
Lvcopolites.' ^ Goats were killed, but the Theban gentry seem
to have preferred the ibex or wild goat, the oryx, the gazelle, and
other game. These, however, were confined to the wealthier
classes; others lived princi-
pally on beef, Nile geese,
and other wild fowl ; and
some were satisfied with
fish, either fresh or salted,
with an occasional goose or
a joint of meat ; and the
numerous vegetables Egypt
produced appeared in pro-
fusion on every table. Lentil
porridge was, as at present,
a great article of food for
No. 492. Men bringing head and haunch aud some the pOOr, aS Wcll aS the TCl-
other object. -. ^ /» 7x o i
jinanus {jigl), 'cucumbers
(or gourds), melons, and leeks, onions, and garlic,'^ of which the
gourd (^Jcuz, Arabic kdz'), melons (cihtilch^ Arabic batikli), onion
(Jms?, Arabic 5MsZ),andgarlic(fom, Arabic torn) retain their names
in Egj'pt to the present day. They had also fruits and roots
of various kinds ; and Diodorus* says that children had merely
' a little meal of the coarsest kind, the pith of the papyrus, baked
1 Plat, de Uk\. s. 72.
Jlerocl. ii. 12,").
3 Numb. xi. 5.
4 Diod. i. 80.
Chap. XII.] SACRIFICES. 461
iindev the ashes, and the roots and stalks of marsh-weeds.' Beef
and goose, ibex, gazelle, oryx, and wild fowl were also presented
to the gods ; and onions, though forbidden to the priests, always
held a prominent place on their altar, with the figl {raphanus,
woodcut No. 493, ^(/.s. 3, 4), and gourds {figs. 1, 2), grapes, figs
(especially of the sycamore), corn, and
various flowers. Wine, milk, beer,
and a profusion of cakes and bread,
also formed part of the offerings, and
incense Avas presented at every great
sacrifice.
^^ ... . , . , Ko. 493 Sacrificial food.
Oi that prnnitive notion which
led man to consider sacrifice the tj'pe of a more complete
expiation, or of the vestiges of early revelation on this point,
it is not necessary here to treat ; but I shall have occasion to
mention some curious ideas respecting the manifestation of
the Deity upon earth, which occur in examining the mysteries
of ancient EgA'pt. Oracles were of ver}^ remote date among
the Egyptians ; and the Greeks, as well as some other people,
were iiidel)ted to them for their institution. ' The origin of
the different deities,' says Herodotus,^ ' their form, their nature,
and their immortality, are with the Greeks only notions of
yesterday ; and the first who have descriljed them in their
theogony are Hesiod and Homer, who are only m}' predecessors
by 400 years. They mentioned their names, their worship, their
offices in heaven, and their general appearance ; and the poets
who are said to have preceded those two, came, in my opinion,
some time after them.' ' Xearly all the names of Greek
divinities,' says the same historian,^ ' came from Egypt, or at
least the greater part ; for, with the exception of Xeptune, the
Pioscuri,^ Juno, Vesta, Themis, the Graces, and Nereids, the
names of all the gods have been always known in Egypt. In
stating this, I only repeat what the Egyptians themselves
acknowledge to be the case ; and the names of deities unknown
to them 1 suppose to have been of Pelasgic origin, with the
exception of Neptune, which is from Libya, where that deity has
always been held in particular veneration. With regard to
Heroes, the)/ receive no funeral Jionnr.s from the Egyptians.
The Greeks, indeed, borrowed from ihe Egyptians the religious
1 Hei-odot. ii. 53. ^ ibia.
8 Castor and Pollux, the reputed sons of Jupiter.
462 'i'SE ANC1E>'T EGYPTIANS. [Cjiap. XII.
rites used among tliein, inaii}^ of which I shall have occasion to
notice ; but it is not from them, but from the Pelasgi, that the
Athenians, and after them the other Greeks, derived the custom
of giving to the statues of Mercury a pliallic attitude, the reli-
gious reason of which may be found explained in the mysteries
of Samolhrace.' Herodotus states that the Egyptians were
strangers to the names ^ of the above-mentioned deities, but we
are not thence to infer that the deities themselves were unknown
to them ; and there is direct evidence of three, Juno, Vesta, and
Themis, holding a distinguished position in the Pantheon of
Egypt. Juno was called Sate, Vesta Anouk(^, and Themis was
doubtless derived from the Egyptian T/nnei, the goddess of
Truth and Justice, from whom were borrowed both her attributes
and name. The historian then goes on to observe,^ ' that the
Pelasgi did not at first assign any name to their divinities, but
merely applied to them the general appellation of gods, according
to the order of tlie different parts which constituted the universe,
and the manner in which they had organized them. It was not
till a late period that they came to know their names, which
were introduced from Egypt ; and they learnt that of Bacchus
long after those of the other gods. In process of time they w,ent
to consult the oracle of Dodona upon this very point ; and
having received for answer that they might adopt the names
taken from foreigners, the Pelasgi thenceforth used them in their
sacrifices, and the Greeks borrowed them from the Pelasgi.' If
the ceremonies and worship of Bacchus were introduced into
Greece by ]\Ielampus,^ and if some trifling changes were made in
them, it was only done in order to suit the tastes of the new
votaries ; and it is evident, says Herodotus, from the great
variance that exists between their rites and Greek manners, and
from their resemblance to those of the Egyptians, that they were
derived from that people. Other religious ceremonies introduced
from Egypt also underwent certain changes, as in the case of
the phallic Mercury above alluded to ; and though Herodotus ^
derives the form of that deity from a Samothracian custom, there
is great reason to suppose that it was borrowed from the figure of
the Pan of Chemmis.^ The ancient oracle of Dodona was allowed,
even by the priestesses themselves, to have been of Egyptian
' But surely the}- were not strangers •* Ilerodot. ii. 51.
even to the name of Themis, being so ^ Both from the oflSce of Mercury, and
closely allied to the Thmei of Egypt. from what he says of the mysteries "of the
2 Uerodot. ii. 52. 3 ibid. ii. 49. Cabiri.
Chap. XII.l ORACLES. 463
origin, 1 as well as that of the Libyan Amnion ; and the oracles
of Diospolis, or Egyptian Thebes,''^ bore a strong resemblance to
the former of those two. The principal oracles in Egypt were
of the Theban Jui)iter, of Hercules, Apollo, Minerva, Diana,
Mars, and above all of Latona, in the city of Buto, which the
Egyptians held in the highest veneration , but the mode of
divining differed in all of them, and the power of giving oracu-
lar answers was confined to certain deities.^
There was also an oracle of Besa, according to Ammianus
MarcelUnus,* in Abydus, a city of the Thebai'd,^ where that deity
was worshipped with long-established honors ; though others
assign a different position to his celebrated temple, in the vicinity
of Antinoe, which place is sup[)osed to have usurped the site of
the old town of Besa, said to have been called Besantinopolis.^
The mode of obtaining answers was here, as at Heliopolis,'^
through the medium of persons deputed for the purpose, who
carried the questions in writing, according to a proper formula,**
and deposited them sealed in the temple, the answers being
retained in the same secret and ceremonious manner. Zosimus
relates that, in the time of Constantius, some of the sealed
answers, which as usual had been left in the temple, were sent
to the Emperor, and the discovery of their contents subjected
many persons to imprisonment and exile ; apparently in conse-
quence of the oracle having been applied to respecting the fate
of the empire, or the success of some design against his life.
Different forms were required in consulting different oracles.
At Aphaca, a town between Heliopolis and Byblus, where Venus
had a temple, was a lake, into which those who went to consult
the oracle of the goddess threw presents, of whatever kind they
chose, and derived omens from their sinking, or swimming on the
surface. If agreeable to the goddess, they sank — if not, they
floated; and Zosimus states that, in the year preceding their
ruin, the offerings of the Palmyrenes sank, and the following
year a contrary result predicted the calamity which befell them.^
1 Herodot. ii. 55 2 ibjd. ji. r,H. " Macrob. Saturn, lil). i. 30.
8 Ibid. ii. 83, 152. s Pliny (xxviii.2), speakinor of consult-
4 Aramian. Marcell. lib xix. 12. iu<.r oracles, says the greatest care was
5 [Ammianus iMarcellinus says, ' at the taken lest a word should be omitted, or
extremity of the Theba'id,' which was not even pronounced wrong, and all was ac-
the situation of Abydus. I am inclined to cording to a set form. (Juvenal, Sat. vi.
think he should have said Antinoe. Herod- 390. )
otus, i 182, mentions it. — G. W.] '■' Banier, Mytholog. tom. ii, liv. iv. c. i.
6 [In an old Egyptian writer, quoted by p. 40.
Photius A.D. 173. — G. W.]
464 THE ANCIENT EGYPTIANS. [Chap. NIL
' On consulting the god at the Oasis of Amnion, it was customary,'
says Quintus Curtius, 'for the priests to carry a gilded boat^
ornamented with numerous silver paterce hanging from l)ot]i its
sides, behind which followed a train of matrons aud virgins
singing a certain uncouth hymn, in the manner of their country^
with a view to propitiate the deity, and induce him to return a
satisfactorj^ answer.' The oracle of Amnion enjoyed for ages
the highest celebrity, and was looked upon by foreigners, as well
as Egyptians, with the most profound respect, missions from all
countries being sent to consult it, and learn its infallible an-
swers : but in Strabo's^ time it began to lose its former renown;
the sibyls of Rome and the soothsayers of Etruria having sub-
stituted omens drawn from the flight of birds, the inspection of
victims, and warnings, from heaven, for the longer process of
oracular consultation ; though, according to Juvenal,^ the answers
of Amnion continued in his time to be esteemed in the solution
of difficult questions, after ' the cessation of the oracle of Delphi.'
Oracles were resorted to on all occasions of importance ; and
sometimes messengers were sent from them spontaneously to
those whom they intended to advise, in the form of warnings
against an approaching calamity, or as an indication of the
divine will.^ Mycerinus was censured for not having accom-
plished the intentions of the gods, and received intimation of
his approaching death ; Sabaco retired from the kingdom in
consequence of the predictions and promises of an oracle ;** and
Necho was warned not to continue the canal from the Nile to
the Red Sea, lest he should expose his country to foreign in-
vasion.^ Oracles were also consulted, like the magicians of the
present day, in cases of theft ; and Amasis is reported to have
bestowed presents on those which he found capable of returning
true answers, and remarkable for discrimination.
They predicted future events, both relative to private occur-
rences and natural phenomena ; for which purpose, Diodorus ^
tells us, they took advantage of their skill in arithmetical
calculations ; this last being of the highest importance to them
in the study of astrology. ' For the Egyptians most accurately
1 Strabo, xvii. p. oo9. of E-rypt (ibid. p. 81; Mariette-Bey,
2 Juv. Sat. vi. 554. 'Revue Arch.,' 1865, torn. ii. p. 161) ; and
3 One of the principal modes of augury tliat of Pasherienptah, in the temple of
was l)y dreams, and amongst the most re- Imouthos (' Archwologia,' xx.\-ix. pp. 315-
markable recorded in the inscriptions are 348). — 8. H.
the dream of Meneptah before the battle of •* Ilerodot. ii. 133, 139.
Prosopis (' Records of the Past,' vi. p. 43) ; ^ ibid. ii. 158.
that of Nutmeiamen, prior to liis invasion ^ Diodor. i. 81.
Chap. XII.] ASTROLOGY. —OFFERINGS. 465
observe the order and movement of the stars, preserving their
remarks U[)on each for an incredible numl)er of years -, that study
having been followed by them from the earliest times. They
most carefully note the movements, revolutions, and positions of
the phmets, as well as the influences possessed by each upon the
birth of animals, whether productive of good or evil. And they
frequently foretell what is about to happen to mankind with the
greatest accuracy, showing the failure and abundance of crops,
or the epidemic diseases about to befall men or cattle : and earth-
quakes, deluges, the rising of comets, and all those phenomena
the knowledge of which appears impossible to vulgar compre-
hensions, they foresee by means of their long-continued obser-
vations. It is, indeed, supposed that the Chaldeans of Babylon,
being an Egyptian colony, arrived at their celebrity in. astrology
in consequence of what they derived from the priests of Egypt.'
' The art of predicting future events, as practised in the Greek
temples,' says Herodotus, ' came also from the Egyptians ; and
it is certain that they were the first people who established
festivals, public assemblies, processions, and the proper mode of
ajiproaching or communing with the divinity.' ^ The manner
of doing this depended on the object of the votary, and a proper
offering was required for each service.
Meat and drink offerings, and oblations of different kinds,
made by the Jews, were in like manner established by law, and
varied according to the occasion. ' Some were free-will offerings,^
others of obligation. The first fruits, the tenths, and the sin-
offerings were of obligation ; the peace-offerings, vows, offerings
of wine, oil, bread, salt, and other things made to the temple, or
the ministers of the Lord, were of devotion. The Hebrews called
offerings in general Oorhan ; but those of bread, salt, fruits, and
liquors, as wine and oil, presented to the temple, they termed
Mineha. Sacrifices, not being properly offerings, were not
generally included under this name. Offerings of grain, meal,
bread, cakes, fruits, wine, salt, oil, were common in the temple.
These were sometimes presented alone ; sometimes they accom-
panied the sacrifices : but honey was never offered with sacrifices ;
though it might be presented alone, as first fruits.^ There were
five sorts of offerings called Mineha, Minkheh, or Corban Mineha :*
1. Fine flour or meal. 2. Cakes of several sorts baked in the
oven. 3. Cakes baked on a plate. 4. Another sort of cakes,
1 Herodot. ii. 58. 2 Calmet. s T.evit. ii. 11. 12. ^ Levit. ii. 1.
VOL. II. 3U
466 THE ANCIENT EGYPTIANS. [Chap. XII,
baked on a plate with holes in it. 5. The first fruits of the
new corn ; which were offered either pure and without mixture,
roasted, or parched, either in the ear or out of the ear. The
cakes were kneaded with olive oil, fried in a pan, or only dipped
in oil after they were baked. The bread offered to the altar was
without leaven, for leaven was never offered on the altar, nor with
the sacrifices; ^ but they might make presents of common bread
to the priests and ministers of the temple. These offerings were
appointed in favor of the poor, who could not afford the charge
of sacrificing animals ; though, when living victims were offered,
they were not excused from giving meal, wine, and salt, as an
accompaniment to the greater sacrifices Those "who made
oblations of bread or of meal presented also oil, incense, salt, and
wine, which were in a manner their seasoning. The priest in
waiting received the offerings from the hand of him who brought
them, laid a part on the altar, and reserved the rest for his own
subsistence, as a minister of the Lord. Nothing was wholly
burnt up but the incense, of which the priest retained none.^
When an Israelite offered a loaf to the priest, or a whole cake,
the priest divided it into two parts ; and having set aside the
portion reserved for himself, he broke the other into crumbs,
poured on it oil, salt, wine, and incense, and spread the whole on
the fire of the altar. If these offerings were accompanied by an
animal for a sacrifice, this portion was all thrown on the victim,
to be consumed with it. If the offerings were ears of new corn
(wheat or barley), they were parched at the fire, or in the flame,
and rubbed in the hand, and then offered to the priest in a vessel ;
who put oil, incense, wine, and salt over the grain, and burnt it
on the altar, first having taken his own portion.^ The greater
part of these offerings were voluntary, and of pure devotion. But
when an ani\nal was offered in sacrifice they were not at liberty
to omit them. Every thing proper was to accompany the
sacrifice, and serve as seasoning to the victim. In some cases,
the law required only offerings of corn, or bread ; as when they
( )ffered the first fruits of harvest, whether on the part of the nation,
or as a mark of devotion from })rivate persons. As to the quantit}-
of meal, oil, wine, or salt, to accompany the sacrifices, we cannot
see that the law determined it. Generally, the priest threw a
handful of meal or crumbs on the fire of the altar, with wine, oil,
and salt in proportion, and all the incense ; the rest belonging to
1 Levit. ii. 11. '•= Levit. li. "2, lb Numb. xv. 4, o. 3 Levit. ii. 14. 1.').
Chap. XII. J OFFERINGS OF THE JEWS. 467
himself, and the quantity depending on the liberality of the
offerer. Moses appointed ^ an aHHaron? or the tenth part of an
ephah^ of fine flour, for those who could not bring two turtle-
doves, or two young pigeons, and had not wherewith to offer the
appointed sin-offerings. In the solemn offerings of the first
fruits for the whole nation, they offered an entire sheaf of corn,
a lamb of a year old, two tenths of fine meal mixed with oil,
and a quarter of a hin of wine for the libation.^ In the sacrifice
of jealousy, when a husband accused his wife of infidelity, the
husband offered a tenth part of an ephah of barley meal, with-
out oil or incense, because it was " an offering of jealousy," " an
offering of memorial ; *" * and the priest pronounced a curse upon
the woman, in the event of her having committed a sin, making
her drink a cup of bitter water to prove her innocence or her
guilt. In like manner, among the Egyptians, a peculiar mode
of addressing a prayer, or of offering a sacrifice, was required for
different occasions, as well as for different deities; numerous
instances of which occur in the sculptured representations of
sacrifices in their temples. Nor do ancient authors fail to inform
us of this fact ; and it was forbidden, says Herodotus,^ to immo-
late the pig to any deity except the Moon and Bacchus.
That different animals were chosen for sacrifice in various
parts of Egypt is evident from the recorded customs of some of
the nomes and cities, where they abstained from offering such as
were sacred ; and consequently, the same animal which was
revered and forbidden to be slaughtered for the altar or the table,
in one part of the country, was sacrificed and eaten in another.
Thus the Mendesians, who offered up sheep, abstained from goats,
which they held in particular veneration ; and the Thebans, who
l)ermitted no sheep to be slain, immolated goats on the altar of
their gods.*^ On the fete of Jupiter, a ram was slain ; and the
statue of the deity being clad in the skin, the people assembled
about the temple to make a solemn lamentation, and inflict
numerous stripes upon their persons, in token of their regret for
the death of the sacred animal, whose corpse was afterwards
deposited in a consecrated case. Plutarch affirms'^ that, 'of all
the Egyptians, none eat sheep except the Ljxopolites ; and that
because the wolf does so, which they revere as a deity ; ' and thus
1 Levit. viii. 11, and xiv. 21. * Numb. v. 15. Ca.lmet.
2 n^^.-iBS, ashireth or gasiruth. \ fK^.''\\^\2', &'■
8 Levit. xxiii. 10, et sen. Numb. v. 15. " Pint, ue Isid. s. 72.
468 THE A-NCIENT EGYPTIANS. IChap. XIL
it was that in one part of the country certain rites were performed
which differed totally from those of the rest of Egypt. This,
however, did not extend to the worship of the great gods of
their religion, as Osiris,^ Amen, Ptah, and others, who were uni-
versally looked upon with becoming reverence, and treated, not
as arbitrary emblems, but as the mysterious representations of
some abstract qualities of the divinity itself; and if one or other
of them was more peculiarly worshipped in certain cities or
provinces of Egypt, it was from his being considered the imme-
diate patron and presiding deity. But though his protection and
assistance were particularly invoked by the inhabitants, other
deities shared with him the honors of the sanctuary, under the
name of contemplar gods, whose united favors they did not fail
to implore. With this feeling, the dedication and votive prayers
put up in the temples were addressed to the presiding deity and
the contemplar gods ; ^ and if the former held the most con-
spicuous post in the adytum and other parts of the temple, the
latter received all the respect due to them as equally sacred,
though not enjoying the same external honors in that building.
And thus, again, we find that separate temples were raised to
various deities in the same city.
In the worship of sacred animals the case was different ; and
it frequently happened that those which were adored in some
parts of Egypt were abhorred and treated as the enemies of
mankind in other provinces ; deadly conflicts occasionally re-
sulting from this worship or detestation of the same animal.
The arbitrary choice of peculiar emblems, and the adoration
paid to animals and inanimate objects, frequently depended upon
accident, or some peculiar local reason ; and though great respect
was shown to the ichneumon, from its destroying the eggs of the
crocodile, in places where that animal was considered an enemy
of man, it obtained no honors in those where the crocodile was a
sacred animal, as the type of a beneficent deity. This remark
applies equally to other sacred emblems, as I shall have occasion
to show in describing the sacred animals. But if, in most
instances, the motives assigned for their choice appear capricious
and unsatisfactory, we frequently discover some plausible pretext
derived from a sanitary notion, as in the case of their abstinence
' If Osiris was not nominally one of the says that the ' infantry and cavalry and
eight frreat gods, he in reality held a rank others stationed in tiie Onihitc nonie, dcdi-
equal to any. cated the adytum to Aroeris, the great god
'i For instance, at Ombos, where the Apollo, and to the contemplar deities, for
presiding deity was Aroeris, the dedication their benevolence towards them.'
Chap. XII. | ANIMAL WORSHIP. 469
from the meat of swine, from beans and ' most sores of pulse,' ^ and
from certain fish of tlie Nile ; or connected with some advantage
to mankind : and in order to command the observance of tliese
injunctions, and to prevent the possibility of their being dis-
regarded, many forbidden things were denominated sacred, or
reputed to partake of the nature of the gods. ' For,' says
Porphyry, ' the Egyptians either considered animals to be really
deities, or represented their gods with the heads of oxen, birds,
and other creatures, in order that the people might abstain from
eating them, as they did from using human flesh, or for some other
more mysterious reason;' and religious prejudice commanded
respect for them as for ' their melodies, which were preserved
through successive ages as the actual poems of the goddess Isis.' ^
In process of time the original motive was forgotten, and mere
blind adoration took its place ; but Plutarch says,^ ' It is evident
that the religious rites and ceremonies of the Egyptians were
never instituted on irrational grounds, or built on mere fable
and superstition ; all being founded with a view to promote the
morality and happiness of those whose duty it was to observe
them.' The Greeks frequently delighted in deriding the religious
notions of the Egyptians : and, indeed, considering the strange
animals, the fish, and even vegetables, admitted to a participation
of divine honors, and the lamentations they uttered when death
or any accident befell them, we may readily conceive that the
lively wit of a Greek, who looked upon this superstitious custom
in a literal point of view, would not fail to seize the points most
open to ridicule. Antiphanes,* in his ' Lycon,' speaking jestingly
of the Egyptians, says, ' Besides, clever as they are reputed in
other things, they show themselves doubly so in thinking the eel
equal to the gods ; for surely it is more worthy of honor than
any deity, since we have only to give prayers to the gods ; but we
must spend upon the eel at least twelve drachmas, or more, merely
to smell it — so perfectly holy is this animal ! ' Anaxandrides,^
in his play of the ' Cities,' addressing the same people, observes :
'I cannot agree with you; our customs and laws differ so widely:
you adore the ox ; I sacrifice it to the gods ; you think the eel
a very great deity ; we look upon it as the most delicious dainty ;
you abstain from the flesh of swine ; I delight in it above all
things ; you adore the dog ; I give him a good beating whenever
' These and fish were forbidden to the 3 Plut. de Isid. s. 8.
priests. (Phit. de Isid. s. .").) 4 Athen. Deipn. vii. p. 299, ed. Cas.
2 Plato, Second Book of Laws, p. 790. 5 Idem. loc. cit.
470 THE ANCIENT EGYPTIANS. [Chap. NIL
I catch him stealing any meat. Here a priest is required to be
whole in every part; with you, it appears, they are mutilated.
If you see a cat indisposed, you weep ; I am delighted to kill it,
and take its skin : the mygale, with you, has great influence ;
with us none.' Timocles,^ also, in his ' Egyptians,' says, ' How
could the ibis or the dog have preserved me ? for when persons
irreverent towards those who are really confessed to be gods,
escape immediate punishment, whose offences shall be visited by
the altar of a cat ? ' The favorable opportunity of indulging
in satire, presented by the superstitions of Egypt, could not
escape the severe lash of Juvenal, who thus commences his
Fifteenth Satire : —
' Who knows not, Bitliynian Volusius, what monsters
Mad E^vpt can worship ? This place adores a crocodile ;
That fears an ibis saturated with serpents.
A golden image of a sacred Ceropitliecus shines
Where the magic chords resound from the half Memnon,
And ancient Thebes lies overthrown with its hundred gates.
There a sea-fish, here a river-fish, ther
Whole towns worship a dog, nobody Diana.
It is a sin to violate a leek or an onion, or to break them with a bite.
O holy nation, lor whom are born in gardens
These deities ! Every table abstains from animals bearing
Wool ; it is there unlawful to kill the offspring of a she-goat.
But lawful to be fed with human flesh.' 2
The animal worship of the Egyptians naturally struck all
people as a ludicrous and gross superstition ; but when Xeno-
phanes and others deride their religious ceremonies by observing,
'If your gods are really gods, weep not for them; if men, do
not offer them sacrifices,' the objection comes badly from a
Greek ; and, as Clemens justly remarks, that people had little
reason to criticise the religion of the Egyptians : for into the
Pantheon of Greece a greater number of deified men were
admitted than into that of any ancient people ; and the legendary
tales of the deities degraded their nature by attributing to them
the most inconsistent and disgusting vices.
On the superstition of the Egyptians in considering animals
or herbs to be gods, and in lamenting their death, Plutarch
observes : ^ ' Struck with the manifest absurdity of these things,
Xenophanes the Coloj)honian, and other philosophers who fol-
lowed him, might not only have said to the Egyptians, ''If
ye believe them to be gods, why do ye weep for them ? if they
deserve your lamentations, why do ye repute them gods ? "
1 Athen. loc. cit. ^ This is an exaggeration and a license of satire.
3 Pint, de Isid. s. 71.
Chap. XIL] ANIMAL WORSHIP. 471
l)ut they might liave added, tliat it was still more ridiculous to
weep for the fruits of the earth, and at the same time to pray for
them that they would a})pear again and bring themselves to
maturity, to be again consumed and again lamented:' and
nothing could be more open to censure than the folly of the
Egyptians in })aying divine lif)n(U's to the brute creation. For
whatever may have been their original motive, the natural conse-
quence of its introduction ought to have been foreseen : they
may have deified some to insure their preservation, because they
were useful to the country ; others may have been called sacred,
to prevent their unwholesome meat becoming an article of food ;
and some may have been selected as emblems of certain deities,
from various reasons : but the result ought to have been antici-
pated, and an enlightened priesthood should have guarded men's
minds against so dangerous a fallacy. For, as Plutarch obser ves,^
' The Egyptians — at least, the greater part of them — by adoring
the animals themselves, and reverencing them as gods, have not
only filled their religious worship with many contemptible and
ridiculous rites, but have even given occasion to notions of the
m( )st dangerous consequence, driving the weak and simple-minded
into all the extravagance of superstition.'
It was likewise unjust and inconsistent that the priesthood
should have a creed peculiar to themselves, and the people be
left in utter ignorance of the fundamental doctrines of their
religion ; that in proportion as their ideas were raised towards
the contemplation of the nature of a god, -the other classes,
tyrannically forbidden to participate in those exalted studies,
should be degraded by a belief totally at variance with the truths
imparted to the initiated : and whilst these last were acquainted
with the existence of one Deity in unity, and the operations of
the Creative Power, that the uninstructed should be left and even
taught to worship a multiplicity of deities, whose only claims to
adoration were grounded upon fable. The office of the gods
was, perhaps, in early times more simply defined, their nundjers
smaller, their attributes less complicated ; but the weakness of
men's minds, when untutored on religious subjects, soon })aved
the way for idle superstition : the belief in genii and spirits per-
vading the universe, led to the adoration of fanciful beings ; and
perverted notions respecting the Deity, obliterating every trace
of the simple original, effectually prevented the uninitiated from
1 Pint, de Isid. s. 71.
472 THE ANCIENT EGYPTIANS. [Chap. XII.
suspecting the real nature of their religion. And so gross at
length became their ideas that the character of the gods they
worshipped was degraded, their supposed actions censured, or
their non-interference avenged by an insult to their statues or
their names. It is not, then, surprising that foreigners should
be struck with the absurdities which, from outward appearances,
the religion of Egypt presented ; and the animals chosen as
emblems of the gods, or as substitutes for the divine rulers of the
world, were frequently calculated to give a very low opinion of
the exalted personages of whom they were thought to be proper
representatives ; and however appropriately the hieroglyphics
might indicate a child by a goose,^ the god of learning could
scarcely be flattered by being figured under the form of an ape,
or the Creator of the world, who made all things perfect, under
the deformed character of the pigmy Ptah.
An Egyptian priest, it is true, might object to his religion
being judged by the standard of our ideas ; he might insist upon
the necessity of secrecy in the mysteries, in order to prevent the
dangerous speculations of those who were not subject to the
oaths of initiation; and he might suggest that, in the most
simple and pure religions, many expressions had secret meanings,
and that a literal inter|)retation of them would offend against the
spirit of the religion itself. In justice, therefore, some allowance
should be made for the allegorical religion of the Egyptians :
and when we reflect that it contained many important truths,
founded upon early revelations made to mankind, and treasured
up in secret to prevent their perversion, we may be disposed to
look more favorably on the doctrines they entertained, and to
understand why it was considered worthy of the divine legislator
to be ' learned in all the wisdom of the Egyptians.' That the
reasons assigned for the worship of certain objects are highly
ridiculous. cannot be doubted, and no satisfactory motive can be
discovered for many of the religious customs established in
Egypt ; but we may be satisfied that ancient authors were not
sufficiently acquainted with the subject to place these points in
their proper light — inuch less to give any satisfactory explanation ;
and their origin and tendency, becoming at length enveloped in
a cloud of fanciful speculation, few even of the Egyptians them-
selves were capable of understanding the intricacies of their own
religion. It is evident, indeed, that no Egyptian who was not
I III fact, merely in consequence of its phonetic or alphabetic value.
Chap. XII.] MISTAKEN OPIXIONS OF THE GREEKS. 473
initiated into the mysteries understood the purport of the cere-
monies he witnessed, or obtained any notion of the nature of
the theogony, beyond that usually obtained by the votaries of
a polytheism : and the fabulous existence of the gods on earth
supplied, among the uninstructed, the place of abstract notions,
which the initiated were taught to apply to the external forms
they worshipped. It was this ignorance of the nature of the
gods which led the Greeks to believe their positive existence
upon earth in a human form, and to receive all the legendary
tales of their actions as literal truths ; bringing down the deities,
as Cicero observes, to the level of men, instead of raising men to
the level of the gods. But we find that Plutarch ^ was so far
acquainted with those secrets (to a participation of which he had
in a certain degree been admitted), as to deride the idea of the
deities having been once human, or having^ lived among men;
and a remark made by the Egyptians themselves to Herodotus
and Hecatseus shows how ignorant they considered the Greeks
on this subject. 'For many,' says Origen, 'listening to accounts
they do not understand, relative to the sacred doctrines of the
Egyptian philosophers, fancy that they are acquainted with all
the wisdom of Egypt, though they have never conversed with
any of the priests, nor received any information from persons
initiated into their mysteries.' 'Greece,' observes the Abbe
Banier,'^ 'never had but a confused idea of the history of her
religion. Devoted without reserve on this important point to her
ancient poets, she looked upon them as her first theologians ;
though these poets, as Strabo * judiciously remarks, either through
ignorance of antiquity or to flatter the princes of Greece, had
arranged in their favor all the genealogies of the gods, in order
to show that they were descended from them. Whenever, there-
fore, any heroes are mentioned in their writings, we are sure to
find Hercules, Jupiter, or some other god at the head of their
' Plut. de Isid. s. 22, 23. name of Osiris, from bein<r supposed to re-
2 Cicero, de Nat. Deor. i. The only ap- turn, after a virtuous life, to the jireat
pearance of a man havin": the character of orij^'in from which they were emanations,
a deity occurs in the temple built hy Sometimes the kinir even offers to a figure
Thothmes III. at Samueli, where Usertesen of himself and his queen, seated on thrones,
III. is represented performinji^ the same hefore whom he stands as an officiating
offices as a g-od, hut we do not know how priest. [Usertesen III. is called there the
fav he was assimilated to a deity, and he Tat-un, or '\'ounjr Tat,' assimilated to
merely wears a royal cap. There are also Osiris. The "reason is unknown : it was a
ofiFering-s of kinjjs, as of other persons, to strictly local worship. — S. B.]
their deceased parents; but these are only '^ ' La iSIytholopie expliquee pai I'His-
made to them in the character they as- toire,' vol. i. liv. ii. c. 5.
sujned after death, when they received the ^ Strabo, lib. x.
474 THE ANCIENT EGYPTIANS. [Chap. XIL
genealogies ; and if the desire to pass for very ancient is common
to nearly all people, the Greeks were, of all others, the most
conspicuous for this folly. It is, in leed, surprising that thev,
who could not possibly be ignorant of their having received many
colonies from Egypt and Phoenicia, and with them the gods and
ceremonies of their religion, should venture to assert that those
same deities were of Greek, or Thracian, or Phrygian origin; for
it is to this conclusion that their poets pretend to lead us. But
two words of Herodotus, who says that the gods of Greece came
from Egypt, are preferable to all that their poets have put forth
on this subject ; ' and Plato tells us that ' when Solon inquired of
the priests of Egypt about ancient affairs, he perceived that
neither he nor any one of the Greeks (as he himself declared)
had any knowledge of very remote antiquity.' ' And as soon as
he began to discourse about the most ancient events which
happened among the Greeks, as the traditions concerning he
first Phoroneus and Niobe, and the deluge of Deucalion and
Pyrrha,^ one of the more ancient priests exclaimed, " Solon, Solon,
you Greeks are always children, nor is there such a thing as an
aged Grecian among you : all your souls are juvenile ; neither
containing an}" ancient opinion derived from remote tradition,
nor any discipline hoary from its existence in former periods of
time." ' ^ Justly did the priests deride the ridiculous vanity and
ignorance of the Greeks, in deriving their origin from gods ; and
they assured Herodotus,*'^ that during the long j^eriod which
elapsed from the commencement of the Egyptian monarchy to
the reign of Sethos (comprising 341 generations), 'no deity had
appeared on earth, in a human form, nor even before, nor since
that time ; " and when ' Hecataeus,' says the historian, 'boasted of
his genealogy to the priests of Jupiter at Thebes, claiming for
his family the honor of being descended from a god,'^ whom he
reckoned as his 10th ancestor, they made the same observation to
him as to me, though I had said nothing respecting my ancestry.
Having taken me into a large consecrated chamber, they showed
me a series of as mg-ny wooden statues as tliere had been high
priests during the above-mentioned period ; for each high priest,
while yet living, had his image placed there ; and having
counted them all before me, they proved that every one had
1 The priests said to Solon, ' Yoii men- ^ piat. in Tim p. -167.
tion one delude only, whereas inanj' hap- 3 Ilerodot. ii. 142.
pened.' (Plat, iu Tim. p. 466, trans. -^ [The title 't:()d,' given to the kings,
Taylor.) was merely honorary. — G. W.]
€hap. XII.] SYMBOLIC GODS. 475
succeeded his father at his demise, beginning from the oldest,
and coming down to the last. The same had been done before
Hecatteus, when he boasted of his genealogy ; and in opposing
his pretensions by the number of their high priests, they denied
that any man was descended from a deity. Each statue, they
argued, represented a Pirdmls begotten by a Pirdmis^ (a man
engendered by a man}; and having gone through the whole
number of 345, they showed that every one was the son of his
predecessor, without a single instance of any being descended
from a god, or even a hero.' ^
Of their idea respecting the manifestation of the Deity on
earth, which the Egyptians entertained in common with the
Hindoos, but which is far more remarkable in their mode of
treating it, I shall not speak at present. This question is totally
different from that of the existence of the gods on earth,^ alluded
to by Herodotus, and must be looked upon under a very different
aspect, as the most curious mystery which has been traced in the
religion of Egypt. That the images of the Egyptian deities were
not supposed to indicate real beings,* who had actually existed
on earth, is abundantly evident from the forms under which they
were represented ; and the very fact of a god being figured with
a human body and the head of an ibis, might sufficiently prove
the allegorical character of Thoth, or Mercury, the emblem of the
-communicating medium of the divine intellect, and suggest the
impossibility of any other than an imaginary or emblematic
existence ; in the same manner as the sphinx, with a lion's body
and human head, indicative of physical and intellectual power,
under which the kings of Egypt were figured, could only be
looked upon as an emblematic representation of the qualities of
the monarch. But even this evident and well-known symbol did
not escape perversion ; and the credulous bestowed upon the
1 Pirdmi is the Egyptian word signify- earth, showing their existence on it. The
ing 'the man,' which Herodotus, from his romance of the Two Brothers represents
ignorance of the language, has transhited the gods coming on earth to see the woman
'good and virtuous.' The sense itself they had made. — S. B.
ought to have pointed out the meaning of ■• At a later period, perhaps, the idea of
the word romi, ' man.' a single god, personated by the ditferent
2 Against this must be set the fact that local types, prevailed; but the original con-
theThebankings were called sons of Amen, ception of each group of deities was an-
of the blood or substance of that god, and thropomorphic, consisting of the principal
supposed to be the direct descendants of god, his wife, her sister, and his child or
the deity — a legend subsequently adopted children, all purely humanized idols of the
by Alexander the Great, in his sujyDosed god. The whole myth of Osiris is pre-
mysterious descent from the god. — S. B. eminently anthropomorphic, as all original
3 In the lists of Manetho certain gods notions of gods are. — S. B.
reigned an assigned number of years on
476 THE ANCIENT EGYPTIANS. [Chap. XIL
sphinx the character of a real animal. It signified little, in the
choice of a mere emblem, whether it was authorized by good and
plausible reasons ; and if, in process of time, the symbol was
looked upon with the same veneration as the deity of whom
it was the representative, the cause of this corruption is to
be ascribed to the same kind of superstition which, in all times
and in many religions, has invested a relic with a multi-
plicity of supposed virtues, and obtained for it as high a
veneration as the person to whom it belonged, or of whom it
was the type.
This substitution of an emblem, as an animal,^ or any other
object, for the deity, was not the only corruption which took
place in the religion of the Egyptians: many of the deities
themselves were mere emblematic representations of attributes
of the one and sole God : for the priests who were initiated into,
and who understood the mysteries of, their religion, believed in
one deity alone ; and, in performing their adorations to any
particular member of their Pantheon, addressed themselves
directly to the sole ruler of the universe, through that particular
form. Each form (whether called Ptah, Amen, or any other of
the figures representing various characters of the Deity) was one
of His attributes ; in the same manner as our expressions ' the
Creator,' 'the Omniscient,' 'the Almighty,' or any other title,
indicate one and the same Being: hence arose the distinction
between the great gods and those of an inferior grade which were
physical objects, as the sun and moon ; or abstract notions of
various kinds, as 'valor,' 'strength,' 'intellectual gifts,' and the
like, personified under different forms ; and it is evident that no
one who understood the principles on which the groundwork of
the Egyptian Pantheon was based could suppose that the god.
of valor, of strength, or of intellect had ever lived on earth ;
and we may readily conceive how the Egyptian priests derided
the absurd notions of the Greeks, who gave a real existence to
abstract ideas, and claimed a lineal descent from ' strengtl^ or
any deified attribute of the Divinity. Upon this principle it is
probable that gods were made of the virtues, the senses, and, in
short, every abstract idea which had reference to the deity or
man ; and we may therefore expect to find, in this catalogue,
intellect, might, wisdom, creative power, the generative and
1 The animal head placed on the deity soul of the deity was supposed to be incar-
showed and alluded to the animal worship ; nate. — S. B.
the peculiar animal being' that in which the
Chap. XII.] DIFFERENT KINDS OF GODS. 477
productive principles, thought, will, goodness, mercy, com-
passion,^ divine vengeance, prudence, temperance, fortitude,
fate, love, n66og^ hope, charity, joy, time, s[)ace, infinity, as well
as sleep, harmony,^ and even divisions of time, as the year,
month, day, and hours, and an innumerable host of abstract
notions. These, in like manner, were admitted into the Pan-
theon of Greece and Rome, with the addition of some not very
delicate or elegant personages ; who were frequently permitted
to supersede and usurp the place of the more respectable divini-
ties of earlier times. There were also numerous physical dei-
ties in the Egyptian Pantheon, as earth, heaven, the sun and
moon, and others, revered for the benefits they conferred on man ;
though the view they took of the elements mentioned by Seneca
appears rather to have been a metaphysical than a religious doc-
trine : and if they divided each of the four elements into two,
making one masculine, the other feminine, it was in order to
establish a distinction which appeared to correspond to a dif-
ference in their nature, as between the active wind and the
passive mist, or inert atmosphere ; between sea and fresh water;
between fire which burns and light which shines ; between stone
and rock, as part of earth and as cultivable land ; the former
of all these being masculine, the latter feminine.^
Different people have devised various modes of representing
the personages connected with their religion. The Egyptians
adopted a distinguishing mark for their . gods, by giving them
the heads of animals, or a peculiar dress and form, which
generally, even without the hieroglyphic legends, sufficed to
particularize them ; but they had not arrived at that refinement
in sculpture which enabled the Greeks to assign a peculiar face
and character to each deity. This was an effort of art to which
none but the most consummate masters could attain : and even
the Greeks sometimes deviated from these conventional forms ;
1 The rahman and rahim of the Arabs. gods, each god having a god and goddess
* Phitarch says Harmony was the otT- personifying it. Their heads are generally
spring of Mars and Venus (de Isid. s. 48). that of the frog or ur;eus. Water, as the
This, as the idea of Minerva springing tirst element, was represented by the god
from the head of Jove and other similar Nut or Han, and a goddess of "the same
fables, shows that many of the Greek gods name personifying the same. Fire, the
were, in like manner, personifications of second element, is called Hehu and Hehut,
ideds, and attributes of the deity. apparentlv in the sense of ' day' or 'ages.'
3 Seneca, Nat. Quffist. iii. 14, p. 870. Earth has the names of Kak v Kaket.
The gotls of the four elements are found Darkness and Air have that ol N;;, or
personified at various places, as Edfu, 'breath.' (Lepsius, 'Die Gutter d. vier
Karnak. Medinat Habu, Dcrr el Medenet, Elenienten,' Abh. d. K. Akad. d. Berlin,
and Piiila;. They form groups of eight 1856, p. 181, and foil.) — S. B.
478 THE ANCIENT EGYPTIANS. [Chap. XIL
the Apollo, or the Bacchus, of one age, differing from those of
another ; and the lion-skin, the dolphin, the crescent, or the
eagle, were generally required to identify the figures of a Her-
cules, a Venus, a Diana, or a Jove. Indeed, in so extensive a
Pantheon as that of Egypt, it would be impossible to maintain
the peculiarities of features, even if adopted for the principal
gods ; and the Christians have found it necessary to distinguish
the apostles and saints by various accompanying devices, as the
eagle, the lion, a wheel, or other symbols.
Though the priests were aware of the nature of their gods,
and all those who understood the mysteries of the religion
looked upon the Divinity as a sole and undivided Being, the
people, as I have already observed, not admitted to a participa-
tion of those important secrets, were left in perfect ignorance
respecting the objects thej^ were taught to adore ; and every one
was not only permitted, but encouraged, to believe in the real
sanctity of the idol, and the actual existence of the god w*hose
figure he beheld. The bull Apis was by them deemed as sacred
and as worthy of actual worship as the Divinity of which it was
the type ; and in like manner were other emblems substituted
for the deities they represented. But however the ignorance
of the uninstructed may have misinterpreted the nature of
the gods, they did not commit the same gross error as the
Greeks, who brought down the character of the creative power,
the demiurge who made the world, to the level of a blacksmith ;
this abstract idea of the Egyptians being to the Greeks the
working Vulcan, with the hammer, anvil, and other implements
of an ordinary forge. The Egyptians may have committed great
absurdities in their admission of emblems in lieu of the gods ;
they were guilty of the folly of figuring the deities under the
forms of animals ; but they did not put them on an equality
with earthly beings by giving them the ordinary offices of men :
they allowed them still to be gods ; and their fault was rather
the elevation of animals and emblems to the rank of deities, than
the bringing down, of the gods to the level of mankind. In
noticing the religion of the Egyptians, it is not my intention to
enter into a detailed account of the offices and attributes of the
numerous gods who composed their Pantheon, nor, indeed, have
we as yet sufficient data to enable us to penetrate into all the
intricacies of this curious question ; I shall therefore confine
myself to the general forms and characters of the deities, and
endeavor to explain the principle on which the superstructure
Chap. XIL] ORIGINAL BELIEF IX A SOLE DEITY. 479
of their tlieogony was based. In the early ages of mankind, the
existence of a sole and omnij)otei;t Deity, who created all things,
seems to have been the universal belief; and tradition taught
men the same notions on this subject which in later times have
I)een adopted by all civilized people. Whether the Egyptians
arrived at this conclusion from mere tradition, or from the
conviction resulting from a careful consideration of the question,
I will not pretend to decide ; suffice it to know that such was
their belief, and the same which was entertained by many phi-
losophers of other nations of antiquity. Some of the Greeks,
in early times, had the same notions respecting their theogony,
as we learn from a very old author, 'if it be true,' as the Abbe
Banier ^ observes, ' that Pronapides adopted them, who was the
preceptor of Homer, as Boccaccio ^ affirms, on the authority of a
fragment of Theodontius. According to this ancient theogony,
the most rational of all, there was only one eternal God, from
whom all the other deities were produced. It was not permitted
to give any name to this first Being,^ and no one could say who
he was. Anaxagoras thought to have defined him, by saying
that he was vov: " understanding." However, as the most simple
ideas have been altered in after-times, Lactantius, the scholiast
of Statins, calls this Sovereign Being Daimogorgon, as does the
author above alluded to, in imitation of Theodontius. His name
signifies the Genius of the Earth ; but, from the description
given of this god, it scarcely agrees with the idea that the first
philosophers entertained of him ; for it is right to observe that
the poets, who were the earliest theologians of Greece, have, as
it were, ])ersonified their ideas, and made out theogonies accord-
ing to their fancy, though they appear always to suppose a
Being really independent. Most of them agree in an eternity,
an ontogony, or generation of beings, some of whom are heavenly,
others earthly or infernal; but Daimogorgon and Achlys,
according to their system, were before the world, even anterior
to chaos. Their Acmon, their Hypsistus, existed before the
heavens, which the Latins called Coelus, and the Greeks Ouranos.
According to them, the Earth, Tartarus, and Love preceded
Coelus, since we find in Hesiod that this last was son of the
Earth; 4 and some considered Acmon to be the father of Crelus,
and the son of Manes. Ccelus also was the parent of Saturn,
1 Mytholog. vol. i. lib. ii. c, 5. -i Thoiiph Saturn was said to be son of
2 Genealog-. of tiie Gods, i. c. 3. Coelus and Terra.
3 Statins, Thcbais, lib. iv. ver. 316.
480 THE ANCIENT EGYPTIANS. [Chap. XIL
who was himself the father of the gods. The giants, sons
of the earth, came afterwards, and Typhon was the last of them ;
after whom were the demigods, engendered by an intercourse
oetween the gods and the inliabitants of the earth.'
It is still doubtful if the Egyptians really represented, under
any form, their idea of the unity of the Deity ; it is not
improbable that his name, as with the Jews, was regarded with
such profound respect as never to be uttered ; and the Being of
Beings, ' who is, and was, and will be,' was perhaps not even
referred to in the sculptures, nor supposed so be approachable,
unless under the name and form of some deified attribute,,
indicative of His power and connection with mankind.
Many allegorical figures are supposed to have been adopted
for this purpose ; and Greek writers have imagined that the
snake curled into the form of a circle, with its tail in its mouth,,
and other similar emblems, were used by the Egyptians to'
indicate the unutterable name of the eternal Ruler of the
universe ; but these are merely symbols of His deified attributes
(if, indeed, the snake in that form can be admitted among the
number^); and neither the snake, the emblem of Neph, the
hawk, nor any other emblem, can be considered in any way
connected with the unity of the Deity. Even Osiris himself
cannot be looked upon as the Deity in unity ; though his
character of judge of the dead in the region of Amenti, and his
mysterious nature as an Avatar, give him a higher and more
comprehensive rank than any other god ; and it is not a little
remarkable that he there appears as one of two members of a
separate triad, though he had returned, after performing his
duties on earth during his manifestation, to that state from which
he was supposed to proceed. One of the most perplexing parts
of the Egyptian system is the varied character of the same deity ;
and the many names of Osiris, as the title Myrionymu^ (Mvith
ten thousand names') given to Isis, show the difficulty of ascer-
taining their office on different occasions. It appears, then, that
the Divinity himself was not represented in the Egyptian
sculptures, and that the figures of the gods were deified attri-
butes indicative of the intellect, [)Ower, goodness, might, and
other qualities of the eternal Being ; which, in some measure,
accords with the oi)inion of Damascius, who observes that 'nearly
all philosophers prior to lamblichus asserted that there was one
1 It does not appear to be met with singly in the ancient temples as the representative
of any Eg^yptian deity.
CiTAP. XII.] CLASSES OF GODS. 481
superessential God, but that the other deities had an essential
subsistence, and were deified by illuminations from the One.'
Some, which belonged to the Divinity himself, were considered
the great gods of the Egyptian Pantheon ; the next class of
deities were emanations from the same source ; and the minor
divinities of various grades were the representatives of inferior
powers, of physical objects connected with the Creator, and of
different abstract ideas, whose relative rank depended on the
near or distant connection they were deemed to possess with a
divine origin. Some, again, were mere deifications of physical
objects ; and superstition raised to a sacred rank a useful animal
or an unwholesome plant. The same may be observed in the
religion of the Greeks and Romans ; and to such an extent was
this carried by the latter, and so degraded did the office of a
deity become, that one was chosen to preside over the common
sewers of the city, and a god of coughing ^ was invented as a
suitable companion to the goddess Fever.^
The Egj^ptians, like the Greeks and Romans, divided their
gods into different classes or grades. Among the latter, they
consisted of the twelve great gods, — the Dii majorum gentium
or Dii Consentes, and the Dii minorum gentium ; and the Egyp-
tians, in the same manner, distinguished their eight great gods
from those of an inferior rank. The names of the twelve great
gods of the Greeks have been preserved by Eunius in the
following couplet : —
' Juno, Vesta, Minerva, Ceres, Diana, Venus, Mars,
Mercurius, Jovis, Neptunus, Vulcanus, Apollo ; '
each of whom presided over one of the months of the year : and
one of the follies of which Alexander was guilty, according to
Arrian, was his wishing to be enrolled among these, and to
become the thirteenth of the first class of deities.
To the twelve great gods the Romans added eight others,
called selecti., or chosen deities, who were Janus, Saturn, Genius,
the Sun, the Moon, Pluto, Bacchus, and the ancient Vesta, or the
Earth. After these ranked the Dii Semones or Semihomines,
the demigods ; and then the Indigetes, and those who were
attached to certain localities, the household gods, the genii of
1 It must be allowed that Tussis is not is to be remembered that by the Orientals
mentioned by any Latin writer, and rests many diseases were attributed to possession,
on mere local tradition. and in Egyptian practice were exorcised as
2 Cicero, de Nat. Deor. v. 2 : 'We see a actual daemons. — S. B.]
temple to Fever on the Palatine Hill.' [It
VOL. II. 31
482 THE ANCIENT EGYPTIANS. [Chap. XII.
woods or rivers, nymphs, and other inferior beings. ' Cicero ^
arranges the gods in three classes : first, tlie Dii coelestes, wlio
are the same as the Dii majorum gentium ; then the demigods
and the Indigetes ; and, thirdly, the virtues, which raise man to
heaven, and have been themselves deified.' ' Varro maintained,'
says the Abbe Banier, ' that there were known and unknown
gods, and reduced all the Gentile deities to two classes. In the
first were those whose names and offices were defined, as the Sun,
Moon, Jupiter, Apollo, and others ; and in the second were
placed those of whom nothing positive was known, and to wliom
it was not lawful to raise altars or offer sacrifices. The philo-
sopher Albricus considers the seven j)lanets as the seven first
gods of the heathen, whom he arranges in this order : Saturn,
Jupiter, Mars, Apollo, Venus, Mercury, and the Moon. Pausa-
nias,^ Cicero, Hesychius, and many others, speak of altars raised
to unknown deities ; and, in the Acts of the Apostles, St. Paul
mentions an altar to the Unknown God. Epimenides, the great
prophet of the Cretans, was the author of this notion. Clemens
of Alexandria endeavored to include all the pagan deities
under seven classes. In the first he placed the stars or heavenly
bodies; in the second, the fruits of the. earth and the gods who
presided over them, as Ceres, Pomona, Vertumnus, Bacchus, and
others ; the third comprehended the Furies and other gods of
punishment ; in the fourth he placed those of the passions and
affections, as love, modesty, and others ; the virtues, as concord,
peace, and the rest, forming, according to him, the fifth class.
The great gods, or Dii majorum gentium, occupied the sixth ;
and those of health, as vEsculapius, Hygieia, Telesj)hore, and
some more, constituted the seventh.
' lamblichus,^ a Platonic philosopher, divided the gods into
eight classes. In the first he placed the great gods, who,
invisible by their nature, pervaded the whole universe : that is,
doubtless, the Universal Spirit. The higher order of spirits,
whom he called archangels, occupied the second rank; and
others of an inferior grade, or angels, formed the third. In
the fourth were the dsemons ; ^ those whom he names greater
Archontes — that is, genii who presided over this sublunary
world and over the elements — constituted the fifth ; and the
sixth was composed of the minor Archontes, whose power ex-
1 De Leuih. lib. ii. Banier, Myth. 1. v. 3 lamblichus, de Mystei'iis, sect. ii. c. 1.
c. 5. ^ dai/Aoves.
2 In Eliacis.
CiiAi'. XII.] GODS OF THE GREEKS. 483
tended over the gross and terrestrial matter. Heroes formed the
seventh ; and the souls of men admitted to the order of gods,
occupied the eighth and last class; Other philosophers of the
same sect included all the deities, or, we ma}- say, all the genii,
in two classes : those called anhyloi^ immaterial, and hylaioi^
material, occupying the first ; and the mundane and supra-
mundane the second. Mercury, or Hermes Trismegistus, is said
to have admitted three classes of gods. In the first were those
whom he called heavenly ; in the second, the empyrean ; and in
tlie third, the etherean. The gods were also divided into pub-
lic and private : the former being those whose worship was
established and authorized by law ; the latter those who were
chosen by individuals to be the peculiar object of their wor-
ship, as the gods Lares, the Penates,^ and the souls of ancestors.
The most general division is that which classed the gods under
the two heads of the natural and the living deities : the former
consisting of the stars and other physical objects ; the latter,
of men who had received divine honors. But these did not
comprehend all the deities, since the genii of different kinds
were there omitted. Finally, the system which we should pre-
fer in treating of the deities of Greece and Rome divides them
into gods of heaven, of earth, and of the loAver regions.'
These do not seem to accord with the divisions of the Egyp-
tian Pantheon ; and we may find in the Phcenician Cabiri a
stronger analogy to the great gods of Egypt, — being, like
them, eight in number, and their name implying that they were
the great'^ gods of the country. The belief of their being tlie
offspring of one great father, called Sydik, 'the just,' may also
accord with the presumed notion of the Egyptians respecting
the indivisible One mentioned in the books of Hermes.
Herodotus describes the Cabiri in Egypt as sons of Ptah, or
Vulcan, whose statues '^resembled those of the Egyptian Creator,
and speaks of their temple at Memi)his, which no (me but the
priest was allowed t(j enter; but the mystery ( bserved i'es[)ect-
ing them, and the slight information obtained l)y the historian
1 This word inio^ht be derived from Jove, Juno, and Minerva; and others,
Pi-noute, 'the cfod,' but that we have a Ccehis and Terra.
ditficuhy in accountinji' for tlic use of an •^ Kalir, or Kehir, 'preat,' the common
Eiivptian name at Rome. The orinin of Hebrew and Arabic word, in use to the
the Penates is doubtful; sonic attributins- present day; as is Sadek, or Sedeek, the
their introduction to ^Eueas, which is an 'just.'
idle fable: and a difference of opinion 3 Their statues wore of wood, as were
exists about their names; some supposing those of old times in Ejivpt, and in Greece,
them to be Neptune and Apollo; others, according to Pausanias (Corinth, ii. 19).
484 THE ANCIENT EGYPTIANS. [Chap. XIL
on the subject, render his statement of little use in forming an
opinion of their character and office.
Though the Egyptians may have admitted two general divis-
ions of the gods, which were adopted by Pythagoras and Plato,
under the head of noetoi, inteUigihleH^ and aisthetoi, sensibles,
or metaphysical and jjliysical deities, yet man}' other distinctions
subsisted in the members of their Pantheon ; and the grada-
tions, even among those of the first-mentioned class, were
marked and numerous. The aisthetoi, or sensibles, were also
distinctly separated from the emblematic types of their divinities.
The great gods of the Egyptians ^ were Chnumis, Amen,
Ptah, Khem, Sati, Mut, or perhaps Buto, Bubastis, and Neith,
one of whom generally formed, in conjunction with other two, a
triad, which was worshipped by a particular city, or district, with
peculiar veneration. In these triads the third member pro-
ceeded from the other two ; that is, from the first by the second,
thus : the intellect of the Deity, having operated on matter, pro-
duced the result of these two, under the form and name of the
world, or created things, called by the Greeks kosmos ;^ and on
a similar principle appear to have been formed most of these
speculative combinations. The third member of a triad, as
might be supposed, was not of equal rank with the two from
whom it proceeded ; and we therefore find that Khonsu, the
third person in the Theban triad, was not one of the great gods,
as were the other two. Amen and Mut : Horus, in the triad of
Philaj, was inferior to Osiris and Isis ; and Anouke to Chnumis
and Sati, in the triad of Elephantine and the Cataracts. I do
not pretend to decide resjDCcting the origin of the notions enter-
tained by the Egyptians of the triad into which the Deity, as an
agent, was divided ; nor can I attempt to account for their belief
in His manifestation upon earth : similar ideas had been handed
down from a very early period, and, having been imparted to the
immediate descendants of Noah and the Patriarchs, may have
reached the Egyptians through that channel, and have been
preserved and embodied in their religious system. And this
appears to be confirmed by the fact of our finding the Creative
Power, whilst in operation upon matter, represented by Moses as
a Trinity, and not under the name indicative of unity until after
1 Diodorus (lib. i. s. 13) mentions eight Vulcan, Vesta, Mercury. Evander says
names, but fails to inform us if the}' were the eight gods of Egypt were Saturn,
the eight great deities of Egypt. They Rhea, Osiris, Spiritus, Heaven, Eartli,
are, 'Sol, Saturn, Rhea, Jupiter, Juno, Night, and Day. '- Plut. de Isid. s. 5G.
Chap. XII. ] DOCTRIKE OF THE TRINITY. 485
that action had ceased. For the name given to the Deity by
the divine legislator, when engaged in the creation of material
objects, is not Ih6ah ^ (' who is, and will be '), but Elohim,^ ' the
Gods ; ' and this plural expression is used until the seventh day,
when the creation was completed.-"^
That the name Elohim is not intended to refer really to a
plurality of Gods,^ is shown by the use of the singular verbs,
hara, 'created,' ira, 'saw,' iame?-, 'said,' and others, following
the plural Elohim, as may be seen throughout the first chapter
of Genesis : and the first verse of that chapter bears the literal
translation, 'In the beginning He the Gods created the .heavens
and the earth ; ' or more intelligibly and more closely in the
Latin, 'In principio, Dii evea,vit^ coelum et terram,' where
the plural substantive is followed by a singular verb. Thus, the
very first verse of the Bible inculcates the doctrine of the Trinity ;
but under the title of ' He the Gods,' or ' Gods Almighty,' alone
was the Deity known to the Patriarchs before the time of Moses:
and the name of IhQah was not revealed to the Hebrew lawgiver
until the future deliverance of the Israelites from the hand of
Pharaoh was promised, when the Deity made a covenant with
him under that sacred name ; God saying to Moses,^ 'I am the
Lord [Ihoah], and I appeared unto Abraham, unto Isaac, and
unto Jacob, by the name of God [Gods] Almighty [Elohim
Shadai'''] ; but by my name Jehovah^ was I not known to them.
It may appear singular that the principle of a Trinity should
be so obscurely noticed in the Old Testament ; but the wise
caution of the divine legislator foresaw the danger likely to
result from too marked an allusion to what a people, surrounded
1 Written by us Jehovah, and translated first chapter of Genesis (ver. 27), where
in our version 'the Lord,' or when com- the Deity onlj' occurs as Elohim; and
bined with Elohim, 'the Lord God.' being mentioned in the next as an intel-
(Clemens, Strom, lib. v. p. 240.) Many lectual being, when God for the first time
are of opinion that the Phcenician leuo, has the name of Ihoah added to the pre-
the Greek lao, lakchos or lobahchos, and vious Elohim, under which He appeared
Javo, whence Jovis (the ancient name of as the Creative Power.
Jupiter), Janus, Diana, and others, are -^ Some have thought to trace in this an
derived from this name (Hofmann's Lexi- analogy to the notion of Plato, mentioned
con).^ at tlie end of this chapter.
^ That this word Elohim exactly an- 5 Or, in French, ' Les Dieux cre'a.'
swers to our word 'gods,' as appliedto all 6 Exod. vi, 3.
gods generally, is evident from Exodus ^ Or Shidee.
xxii. 20, and other parts of Scripture. 8 Calmet observes, that when Moses
3 It has been supposed that the Deity uses the name (Ihoah), in speaking of
then returned to Ilis unity under the name times prior to this appearance (Gen. iv. 26,
of Ihoah, and under that of Ihoah-Elohirii &c.), he adopts it by way of anticipation,
He appears in connection with Man as an and because at the time lie wrote the Jews
intellectual being ; man as a material am- were acquainted with it ; that is, he fol-
mal having been already noticed, ' male lowed the custom of his own day, and not
and female,' among the creations of the that of the Patriarchs.
486 THE ANCIENT EGYPTIANS. (Chap. XII
by idolatrous polytlieists might readily construe into the exist-
ence of a plurality of gods : the knowledge, therefore, of this
mystery was confined to such as were thought fit to receive so
important a secret ; and thus dangerous speculations and perver-
sions were obviated, of which the fancies of an ignorant people,
predisposed to idolatry, would not have failed to take advantage.
It is unnecessary to enter into the question respecting the con-
nection between the name of Ilioah and the nature of man, as
rei)resented in the second chapter of Genesis ; but I have con-
sidered it proper, in noticing the adoption of the two, Elohim
and Ihoah, to show the possibility of the Egyptian notions of
a Trinity having been derived from early revelation, handed
down through the posterity of Noah ; and I now proceed to
mention some other remarkable coincidences of Scriptural data.
Of these the most singular are the character of Osiris, and
the connection between truth and the Creative Potoer. In the
latter we trace the notion, which occurs in the Christian belief,
that the Deity 'of his own will begat us with the word of truth; ' ^
and not only do the sculptures of the earliest periods express
the same, and connect the goddess of truth with Ptah, the
Creative Power, but lamblichus also, in treating of the ancient
m3^steries, asserts it in these words : ' Whereas he makes all
things in a perfect manner, not deceptively, but artificially,
together ivith truths he is called Ptah ; but the Greeks denominate
him Hephaestus, considering him merely as a physical or artificial
agent,' and- not looking upon him, as they ought, in an abstract
or metaphysical light. But the discloser of truth and goodness
on earth was Osiris ; and it is remarkable that, in this character
of the manifestation of the Deity, he was said to be 'full of,
goodness (grace) and truth,' and after having performed his
duties on earth, and fallen a sacrifice to the machinations of
(Typho) the Evil One, to have assumed the office in a future state
of judge of mankind. At Pliilse, where Osiris was particularly
worshipped, and which was one of the places where the}' supposed
him to have been buried, his mysterious history is curiously
illustrated 2 in the sculptures of a small retired chamber, lying
nearly over the western adytum of the temple. His death and
removal from this world are there described ; the number of
1 Gen. Epistle of James, i. 18. Orpheus - A copy of these sculptures is o-iven in
says, ' I call to witness the word of the the plates of the Royal Society of Litera-
Fathcr, which He first spoke, when He ture (Young, Hieroglyphics), pi. 66, 67>
established the universe by His will.' 68, and 69.
(Justin Martyr, Orat. ad Gentes.)
Chap. XII.] NOTIONS OF THE TRINITY. 487
twenty-eight lotus plants points out the period of years he was
thought to have lived on earth , and his passage from this life to
a future state is indicated by the usual attendance of the deities
and genii, who presided over the funeral rites of ordinary
mortals.^ He is then represented with the feathered cap, which
he wore in his capacity of judge of Amenti ; and this attribute
shows the final office he held after his resurrection, and continued
to exercise towards the dead, at their last ordeal in a future
state. I have already stated that the Monad, or single Deity,
was placed above and apart from the Triads, and that the great
gods of the Egyptian Pantheon were the deified attributes of
the ' OneJ" The same idea of a Monad, and even of a triple Deity,
was admitted by some of the Greeks into their system of phi-
losophy; and 'Amelius,' according to Proclus, 'says, the Demi-
urgos or Creator is triple, and the three Intellects are the three
Kings — He who exists. He who possesses, He who beholds.
And these are different ; therefore the First Intellect exists essen-
tially, as that which exists. But the Second exists as the Intel-
ligible in him, though possessing that which is before him, and
])artaking altogether of that, wherefore it is the Second : but the
Third exists as the Intelligible in the Second, as did the Second
in the First ; for every Intellect is the same with its conjoined
Intelligible ; and it possesses that which is in the Second, and
beholds or regards that which is in the First : for by how much
greater the remove, by so much the less intimate is that which
possesses. These three Intellects, therefore, he supposes to be
the Demiurgi, the same with the three Kings of Plato, and with
the three whom Orpheus celebrates under the names of Phanes,
Ouranos, and Kronos, though, according to him, the Demiurgos
is more particularly Phanes.' ^ Several others also mention the
triple nature of the Deity: and 'from the different Orphic
fragments, we find,' as Mr. Cory ^ observes, that ' the Orphic
trinity •* consisted of
Metis Phanes or Eros, Ericapaeus :
which are interpreted.
Will or Counsel, Light or Love, Life or Life-giver.
From Acusilaus :
Metis, Eros, Ether.
1 Pint, de Isid. s. 35: 'the rising again * The Orphic ceremonies, accordinjr to
of Osiris, and his new life.' Herodotus, were the same as those of the
2 Procl. in Tim. ii. 93. Cory, p. 305. Pythagoreans and Egyptians,
3 Cory, ' Ancient Fragments,' p. 355.
488
THE ANCIENT EGYPTIANS.
[CuAP. XIL
Spirit or Air.
Cloudy Darkness.
The Egg.
From Hesiod, according to Damascius :
Eartli, Eros, Tartarus.
From Pherecydes of Syros:
Fire, Water,
From the Sidonians :
Kronos, Love,
From the Phoenicians :
Ulomus, Cliusorus.
From the Chaldsean and Persian oracles of Zoroaster
Fire, Sun, Ether.
Fire, Eight, Ether.
From the later Platonists ;
Power, Intellect, Father.
Power, Intellect, Soul or Spirit.
' By the ancient theologists, according to Macrobius, the sun
was invoked in the mysteries, as
Power of the j ^ . ^ ^ , ■, -, <y, - ■ pi i -,
1 1 Light oi the world, Spirit or the world :
world, \ '^ ^
and to this may, perhaps, be added, from Sanchoniatho, the three
sons of Genus,
Light, Flame.'
Fire,
Plutarch ^ gives
Intelligence,
Matter,
ICosmos, beauty, order,
or the world ;
the first being the
same as Plato's
Idea,
Exemplar,
or Father,
the second, and the third,
Mother, Offspring,
Nurse, ]
Receptacle of gen- > Production,
eratiou, )
'Of these three, intelligence, matter, and kosmos,'' he says,
' universal nature may be considered to be made up, and there is
reason to conclude that the Egyptians were wont to liken this
nature to what they called the most beautiful and perfect triangle,
the same as Plato himself does in that nuptial diagram he has
introduced into his Commonwealth. Now in his triangle, which
is rectangular, the perpendicular is imagined equal to 3, the
base to 4, and the hypothenuse to 6. In which scheme the
perpendicular is designed to represent the masculine nature, the
base the feminine, and the hypothenuse the offspring of both :
1 Plut. de Isitl. s. 56.
Chap. XII.] MYSTIC NUMBERS. 489
and accordingly, the first will apply to Osiris, or the prime cause ;
the second, to Isis, the receptive power ; and the last to Oriis, or
the effect of the other two. For three is the first number com-
posed of even and odd ; 4 is a square, whose side is equal to
the even number 2 ; but 5, being generated, as it were, out of
both the preceding numbers, two and three, may be said to bear
an equal relation to both, as to its common parents. So, again,
the mere word which signifies the universe of beings is of a
similar sound with this number,^ as to count five^ is made use
of for counting in general.' Plato ^ says the Egyptians taught
numbers to children in their play, by distributing amongst
them a certain number of fruits, or other things, the same
number to be given to many or to few children, so that by
dividing them amongst themselves they learnt lessons in arith-
metic ; and all sorts of numbers were given to them in their
games of play as arithmetical exercises.
The Egyptians wrote from right to left in the hieratic and
demotic (or enchorial), which are the two modes of writing here
mentioned. The Greeks also in old tunes wrote from right to
left, like the Phoenicians, from whom they borrowed their
alphabet. This seems the natural mode of writing ; for though
we have always been accustomed to write from left to right, we
invariably use our pencil, in shading a drawing, from right to
left, in spite of all our previous habit ; and even our down-strokes
in writing are all from right to left. The Arabs say, ' It is more
reasonable to see where the pen is coming, than not to see where
it is going.' It was continued by the Etruscans, the early
imitators of the Greeks, to a very late period. Dr. Brugsch
very ingeniously observes^ that though in demotic, the general
direction of the writing was from right to left, each individual
letter was formed from left to right, as is evident in ,,,,^
the unfinished ends of horizontal letters when the ink ""' '
failed in the pen. In writing numbers in hieratic and »— y K
enchorial they placed the units to the left — that is,
last — according to their mode of writing from right °
to left. Thus 1851 would stand 1581. In 18 they would first
come to the ten, and in 13,422 they would begin with the
thousands. The same mode of beginning with the largest number
1 rrdvTa, irivrf, represented the number 5 by a star, havin",',
- The word Tri^-^ran'iaOiu is taken from as usual, five rays; because, as Horapollo
coiintinu' by tlie five tinjrers — an ordinary pretends, that is the number of the planets
method in early times. (See Athencpum, (Horapollo, i 1.3.) 3 Laws, book 57.
No. 2(506.) The Ejjyptians .sometimes * (iram. Domot. pp. 15. 16.
490 THE ANCIENT EGYPTIANS. [Chap. XII.
is followed in hieroglyphics (224,31), whether written from right
to left, or from left to right. This is like our arrangement of the
thousand first and the unit last, in our writing .^^ 95533 f
from left to right. The Arabs, from whom we in^^iii |
borrowed this, think we ought to have changed iiS Vu ^15L ?
the arrangement, as we write in an opposite * ^ W
direction. But they borrowed their numerals ^ ^ 4- * 3 \
from India (hence called by them Hindee^ ' Indian '), and there
the arrangement is as in our own, 133 of our notation, for ex-
\\\
ample, being thus written fxj ^ by the scribes of the
Indian continent.
On the subject of numbers, the same author makes the follow-
ing remarks : ' It is ni}- opinion, when the Pythagoreans appro-
priate the names of several of the gods to particular numbers, as
that of Apollo to the unit, of Diana to the duad, of Minerva to
the seven, and of Neptune to the first cube,^ that they allude to
something which the founder of their sect saw in the Egyptian
temples, to some ceremonies performed in them, or to some
symbols there exhibited ; ^ the same ' Pythagoreans also look
upon Typho to have been of the order of daemons, as, according to
them, " he was produced in the even number fifty-six." For as
the power of the triangle is expressive of the nature of Pluto,
Bacchus, and Mars ; the properties of the square of Rhea, Venus,
Ceres, Vesta, and Juno ; and of the dodecagon of Jupiter ; so (we
are informed by Eudoxus) is the figure of 56 angles expressive of
the nature of Typho.' ^ ■ They have likewise 'a great detestation
for the number 17,'* and ' call the 17th day of the month the day
of obstruction ; for the middle number 17, falling in between the
square 16 and the parallelogram 18 (the only two plain numbers
whose circumferences are equal to their areas), stops up the way
between them, divides them from each other, and hinders them
from uniting.' In another place,^ he says, ' The Pythagoreans
honor numbers and geometrical diagrams with the names of
the gods : thus they call the equilateral triangle head-born
Minerva and Tritogeneia, because it may be equally divided by
three perpendicular lines, drawn from each of the angles ; the
1 ' Simplicitfs, iu his Commentary on twelve, eight, and six are in harmonic pro-
Aristotle's Treatise de Ccelo, tells us that a portion.' (Taylor's Theoretic Arithmetic.
cube was called by the Pj'thaororeans bar- p. 15.5.)
mony, because it consists of twelve bound- ^ piut. de Isid. s. 10. 3 Ibid. s. 30.
ing fines, eifrht anjrles, and six sides; and ^ Ibid. s. 42. 5 Ibid. s. 76.
Chat. XII. 1 MYSTIC Js^UMBERS. 491
unit they term Apollo, as to. the number two they have affixed
the name of Strife and Audaciousness, and to that of three,
Justice ; in like manner the number 36, their tetrakys^ or sacred
quaternion, being composed of the first four odd numbers added
to the first four even ones, as is commonly reported, is looked
upon by them as the most solemn oath they can take, and called
Kosmos, the world or order.' ' To the ffood principle they give
the names of "the unit, the definite, the fixed, the straight, the
odd, the square, the equal, the dexterous, and the lucid : "
whilst to the evil one they give the appellation of " the duad,
the indefinite, the movable, the crooked, the even, the oblong, the
unequal, the sinistrous, and the dark." ' ^
Without entering into all the abstruse speculations respect-
ing numbers, I shall add a few observations, principally in refer-
ence to the opinions entertained by the Egyptians.' 'According
to their doctrine, Thales defined numbers to be a collection of
monads ; " and some of the Pythagoreans said that the monad
was the confine of number and parts ; for from it, as from a seed
and an eternal root, ratios are contrarily increased and diminished ;
some through a division to infinity being always diminished by
a greater number, while others being increased to infinity are
again augmented. ^ They also ' called the monad intellect,^ male
and female, God, chaos, darkness., Tartarus, Lethe, the axis, the
sun, and Pyralios, Morpho, the tower of Jupiter, Apollo, the
prophet,' and many other names ; and Damascius, in his treatise
iieoi ^Qxcoi; informs us that 'the Egyptians asserted nothing of
the first principle of things, but celebrr.ted it as a thrice un-
known darkness transcending all intellectual perception.' To the
duad they gave the appellation 'audacity, matter, the cause of
dissimilitude, tht interval between multitude and the monad,'
ascribing it to Diana and some other deities, to Fate and Death ;
and the* triad * was considered by them to be intellect, the origin
of virtue, and to belong to Justice, Saturn, and many other
divinities. According to Servius, 'they assigned the perfect
number three to the Great God ; ' and the tetrad they looked
1 Plut. de Isid. s. 48. Cerberus, the three Fates, the Gi-aces, the
2 Taylor's Theoretic Aritl. .letic, p. 4; Furies, the three judges of Hades, and
and Aristotle. others. The expression of Virjiil (Eel. viii.
3 [Somn. Scrip, c. 6. His (Macrobius') To), 'Xumero Deus impare paudet,' ap-
monad; beginning and end of all. — G. W.] plies to the same number, as is shown by
•1 This number is observable in the the preceding verses, and by the ' Nect'e
'Tria virginis era Dianae,' the trident of tribus nodis ternos, . , . colores. Conf.
Neptune, the 'trifidum fulmen Jovis,' the .^En. vi. 229, etalib.)
three sons of Saturn, the three-headed
492 THE ANCIENT EGYPTIANS. [Chap. XIL
upon as the greatest miracle, a god after another manner than
the triad, a mauifold, or rather every divinity; peculiarly ap-
plied to Mercury, Vulcan, Hercules, and Bacchus ; and they held
that the power of the duad subsisted in the four. Thus Pytha-
goras asks, ' How do you count ? ' — Mercury : ' One, two, three,
four. — Pyth. : ' Do you not see that what are four to you, are
ten and our oath ? ' those 1, 2, 3, 4, added together, forming ten,
and four containing every number within it. Four was par-
ticularly connected with Mercury, as the deity who imparted
intellectual gifts to man ; to Vulcan it was assimilated as the
Demiurgos, whence the Tetraktys was the mystic name of the
Creative Power ; and three they looked upon as ' embracing all
human things."" 'Know God,* says Pythagoras, 'who is number
and harmony ; " the human soul,' according to that philosopher,
was 'number moving itself; ' and some styled number 'the father
of gods and men.' Many were the fanciful meanings attached to
numbers by the Pythagoreans, which it is unnecessary here to
introduce : I shall therefore only observe that the opinion re-
specting the 9 was, that ' there could be no number beyond it, and
that it circulates all numbers within itself, as is evident from the
retrogression of numbers. For their natural progression is as far
as 9 , after which their retrogression takes place, 10 becoming once
more the monad. Again, 9 being added to each of the numbers
1, 2, 3, 4, and the rest, it will produce 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, etc. : no
elementary number can therefore be beyond the ennead ; ' whence
the Pythagoreans called it ' ocean and the horizon, all numbers
being comprehended by, and revolving within, it ; ' but the ' decad
was called heaven, being the most perfect boundary of number ; '
and some characterized numbers as the envelopes of being.
That Pythagoras borrowed from Egypt his ideas on this
subject, is highly probable : such appears tc have been the
opinion of the ancients themselves ; and it would be curious to
ascertain if our common multiplication table, for which we are
indebted to that philosopher, was of Egyptian origin. It is
however evident from modern discoveries in the language and
writing of that people, that the numerical system of the Pytha-
goreans tallies with the formation of the Egyptian numbers,
according to that mode of representing them in the hieratic
character, which is applied to the days of the month, in the sense
of the 1st, 2d, 3d, etc., where 1, 2, 3, and 4 alone are perfect
numbers ; 5, 6, 7, and 8 being composed of 3 + 2, 3 + 3, 3 -f- 4,
and 4 + 4 ; 9, from its completing the series, being a single
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Chap. XII. I MYSTIC NUMBERS. 493
and perfect number, 'circulating,' as tlie Pythagoreans say, 'all
numbers within itself,' and 10 commencing a new series, and
'becoming again the monad.'
The hieroglyphic numbers^ are different, being arranged in
units, tens, hundreds, and thousands; and the ordinary hieratic
are partly formed from the hieroglyphic units, the 5, 6, 7, 8, and
9 being ciphers, as is also one form of the 4. For an illustration
of which and the former statement, I refer the reader to the
accompanying Plate.
The speculations of later times have ascribed the same and
some other significations to the numbers, as to
1. Unity. Divine thought. Wisdom. Divinity. The
universal principle, and centre of all.
2. Will. Water. The two natures of man. Perversity.
3. Action. Matter. Temporal immaterial agents who do
not think,
4. Intellect. Intellectual man. Wisdom. All that is
active. Religion. Immaterial agents who think.
5. The evil being. Idolatry. Self-sufficiency. 3 + 2,
6. Formation of the world, Radius, and the natural
division of circle. Piety, 3 + 3.
7. Source of man's intellectual and sensible properties. Re-
lating to the end of the world. Love of esteem. Intel-
lectual agents (having taken the place of man), 4 + 3.
8. Intellectuality both in body and soul. The divine united
with the human nature. Love. Good will. Justice.
4+4.
9. Man not purified from sin. Physical envelope of man.
Creation of the body, and its nature. Curiosity. The
number of every spiritual limit. Intellect united with
sin. 4 + 5.
10. Limit of all. Man purified from sin, returning by a new
birth to unity, whence he proceeded. Decomposition
of the circle, or the world.
Having now mentioned some of the numerous meanings
attached to the numbers,^ I return from this digression to the
consideration of the religious doctrines of the Egyptians.
i For further accounts of the Eg-j'ptian ' Mathematische Papyrus," pp. 8, 9. — S. B.
numbers, see the Grammar of Champollion, - It is unnecessary to point out those
by whom the numerical system commenced which so freqiiently occur in the Bible,
by Dr. Young was very fully demonstrated and every one mustperceive that the con-
and carried out. [A fuller table, with stant occurrence of 4, 7, and other num-
fractions, is given by Professor Eisculohr, bers is not accidental.
494 THE ANCIENT EGYPTIANS. [Chap. XII.
The manifestation of the Deity, His coming upon earth for the
benefit of mankind, and His expected interposition, were ideas
which, even in tlie patriarchal times, liad always been entertained,
having been revealed to man from the earliest periods, and
handed down through successive ages, even to the time when
that event took place ; we are therefore less surprised to find it
introduced into the religion of the Egyptians, and forming one of
the most important tenets of their belief. Indeed, nothing can
be more satisfactory than this additional proof of its having been
a tradition among the early inhabitants of the earth ; and it was
natural that the Egyptians should anticij^ate the fulfilment of
this promise, and found thereon the great mystery of the relative
connection between the Deity and mankind. The fact of this,
and the doctrine of a Trinity being entertained by so many
distant nations, naturally leads to the inference that they had a
common origin . and most persons will admit that they appear
to have been derived from immediate revelation, or from the
knowledge imparted to the early inhabitants of the world, rather
than from accidental speculation in distant parts of the globe, — a
remark which applies equally to the creation of man, the deluge,
the ark or boat, and numerous mysterious doctrines common
to different people. From whatever source the Egyptians
originally borrowed their ideas on these subjects, it is evident
that they refined upon them, and rendered their metaphj'sical
speculations so complicated, that it required great care and atten-
tion on the part of the initiated to avoid confusion, and to obtain
a perfect understanding of their purport. Hence it happened that
those who had only obtained a limited insight into this intricate
subject, speedily perverted the meaning of the very groundwork
itself, and the Greeks and Romans, who were admitted to par-
ticipate in a portion of those secrets, fell into a labyrinth of
error, which gave to the whole system the character of an absurd
fable. Indeed, they went still further, and, taking literally
certain enigmatical ceremonies, they converted speculative and
abstract notions into .physical realities, and debased the rites they
borrowed from Egyjat by the most revolting and profane excesses,
tending to make religion ridiculous, and to obviate all the pur-
poses for which it had been instituted. For, however erroneous
the notions of the ancients were, however mistaken in the nature
of the Deity, an d however much truth was obscured by the worship
of a plurality of gods, still the morality inculcated by religion
and practised by good men was deserving of commendation ; and
Chap. XII.] ORIGINAL NOTIONS OF THE DEITY. 495
*
we cannot but censure those who degraded what was good, and
added to error by the nii.sap{)licati(;n of mysterious secrets.
This perversion of certain allegorical rites, and the misinter-
pretations given by the Greeks and Komans to some religious
customs of the Egyptians, liave, in many instances, led to the
idea that the priesthood of Thebes and Mempliis, under the plea
of religion, were guilty of enormities which would shock the
most depraved ; and an erroneous judgment has been formed
from the mode in which the worship of Osiris was conducted by
his votaries at Rome. I will not pretend to say that the Romans
did not find the ceremonies of that worship already degraded, in
the Grseco-Egyptian city of Alexandria : this is highly probable ;
but the reason of its perversion there resulted from the same cause
as at Rome — the misapplication by foreign votaries of tenets
they failed to comprehend ; for it may be doubted if such rites
were at any time known to the Egyptians ; and if any ex-
ternal ceremonies carried Avith them an appearance of indeli-
cacy, they were merely emblematic representations, as in the
case of the phallic figures, indicating the generative principle
of nature. Here, as usual with the Egyptians, it was the abstract
idea which alone occurred to the mind of those who understood
the religion they professed; but the Greeks and Romans, o wing-
to the grossness of their imaginations, saw nothing beyond the
external form that presented itself to the eye, and instead of the
'power, or abstract cause, they merely thought of its J)hysical char-
acter. Hence the absurd worship of the mere agent in lieu of a
first cause, and hence, in consequence, all those revolting scenes
by which religion was degraded and the human mind corrupted ;
the more deplorable, since mankind is ever prone to commit the
greatest excesses when their acts are believed to have the sanction
of religion. Indeed, even at a time when speculative doctrines
have not yet suffered any gross perversion of their principles, the
ignorance and credulity of man frequently distort what is reason-
able ; and some minds are not possessed of sufficient judgment to
separate the really religious from the -superstitious part of their
creed, or to discriminate between the mysterious or metaph3'sical,
the fabulous, and the moral. A remarkable instance of the per-
verted meaning of a religious custom, by the ignorance of Greek
and Roman writers, occurs in the Pallakides or Pellices of Amen,
mentioned by Diodorus ^ and Strabo. The former, it is true,
' Diodor. i. 47.
496 THE ANCIENT EGYPTIANS. [Chap. XII.
only describes them under the name of Palhikides of Jui3iter, in
noticing their tunibs ; but Strabo ^ asserts that, at Thebes, '■ a
virgin, conspicuous for birth and beauty, was sacriliced to
Jupiter, the deity of that city, and tliat a chiss of persons, called
pellices, "harlots," dedicated to his service, were permitted to
cohabit with anyone they chose.'
That certain women, of the first families of the country, were
devoted to the service of the god of Thebes, is perfectly true, as
I have had occasion already to remark ; and they were the same
whom Herodotus mentions under the name oi gynaikes hiereiai^^
or 'sacred women, consecrated to the Theban Jove.' The state-
ment of Diodorus, that their sepulchres were distant from the
tomb of Osymandyas ten stadia, or little more than 6000 feet,
agrees perfectly with the position of those where the queens and
princesses were buried,^ in tlie Necropolis of Thebes ; and is
highly satisfactory, from its confirming the opinion formed from
the sculptures, respecting the office they held. For though we
are unable to ascertain the exact duties they performed, it is
evident that they assisted in the most important ceremonies of
the temple, in compan}^ with the monarch himself, holding the
sacred emblems which were the badge of their office ; and the
importance of the post is sufficiently evinced by the fact that
the wives and daughters of the noblest families of the country,
of the high-priests, and of the kings themselves, were proud to
enjoy the hohor it conferred. Such being the case, shall we not
reject with contempt so ridiculous a story, and learn from it how
little reliance is to be placed on the Greek and Roman accounts
of the rites of Egypt? And, indeed, if this absurd tale were not
refuted by the sculptures of Thebes, mere reason would tell the
most credulous that a custom so revolting to human nature, and
so directly at variance with the habits of a civilized nation, could
not possibly have existed in any country where morality was pro-
tected by severe laws, or have been tolerated by the Egyptians,
who were unquestionably the most pious of all the heathen
nations of antiquity.
To depend, therefore, upon the Greek theogony for the nature
and character of the Egyptian deities, is equally useless ; and
though in some we may trace the same origin, and perceive the
same primitive idea which suggested their attributes, so little re-
liance can be placed upon the resemblance, and so little certainty
i Strabo, xvii. p. 561. ^ Herodot. i. 182, and li. 54. 3 ' Eprypt and Thebes,' p.
Chap. XII. 1 MISTAKES OF THE GREEKS. 497
is tliere of their not having been altered by tlie Greeks, that the
iiiforination obtained from this source can seldom be admitted,
unless confirmed in some degree by the Egyptian monuments.
No stronger instance of this is required than in the case of the
god Anubis, who is repeatedly stated by Greek and Roman
writers to have borne the head of a dog, and who is invariably
represented by the Egyptians with that of a jackal, or even
under the form of the entire animal ; and this, with several
similar misconceptions, maj'- serve to give some idea of the con-
fusion into which they would lead us respecting the theogony
of the Egyptians. However, as is sometimes the case, amidst
this confusion slight traces may be observed of the original
system from which the Greeks derived their notions ; and as
Amen, the principal member of the Theban trinity and king of
the gods,^ was distinct from the Monad, or sole Deity in Unity, so
Jupiter, though considered by the Greeks to be king of the
gods, was merely a deified attribute of the Deity.
It is evident that the philosophers of Greece were constantly
guilty of misconceptions respecting the very principles of the
Egyptian religion, and some^ believed that 'the Egyptians
ignorantly employed material fables, considering and calling
corporeal natures divinities — such as Isis, earth ; Osiris, hu-
midity : or Typho, heat ; ' without distinguishing between the
different conditions of metaphysical, physical, and other objects
of worship.
In Greek mythology, some of the fables are allegorical, some
moral, some physical, some historical, and some again are mere
metaphysical speculations. This, however, seems only in part
to apply to the theogony of the Egyptians, whose religion was
founded on a different basis, or who, at all events, made the
physical and historical portions subservient to, rather than a
part of, their system ; and if they had even in early times inter-
woven any events of history in their religion, they expunged
them at a subsequent period, and gave to their religion a meta-
physical character, totally unconnected with the tales of their
origin, or the colonization of their country. Indeed, history
seems so entirely excluded from their mythological system, and
so completely a thing apart from it, that we may doubt if it
was admitted into it even at the earliest periods ; and if, in the
' I have shown the error of niakinj; 2 Salhist on the (Jods and the Workl,
Saturn, the father of Jupiter, the same as cliap. iv., quoted hy Taylor, Introd. to
the Egyptian Seb. Plato, p. 39.
498 THE ANCIENT EGYPTIAXS. [Chap. Xll.
chronicles of Egypt, mention is made of the reign of certain
gods upon earth, we may be persuaded tliat these are merely
an allegorical mode of stating facts whi.h really happened, and
are totally unconnected with the tenets of their religion. For,
independent of the positive assurances of the Egyptians them-
selves that no deity ever lived on earth, we are relieved from
the difficulty this appears to present, by the simple suggestion^
that the rule of the gods refers to that of the difterent collesres
of priests of those deities, which successively held the sovereign
power, when Egypt was ruled by a hierarchy, previous to the
election of a king.
That the periods assigned for the duration of these reigns are
totally inadmissible, is evident ; but dates in the early history
of many people are equally vague and arbitrary, even where
there is no reason to doubt the truth of the events to which they
are affixed. In the history of iincient nations, the early portion
usually consists of mere fable, either from real events having
been clothed in an allegorical garb, or from the substitution of
purely fanciful tales for facts, in consecjuence of the deficiency of
real data : to this succeeds an era when, as manners and habits
become settled, amidst fable and allegory, some descriptions of
actual events are introduced ; and at length history, assuming
the exalted character that becomes it, is contented with the
simple narration of fact, and fable is totally discarded. But
such is the disposition in the human mind to believe the miracu-
lous, that, even at a period when no one would dare to intro-
duce a tale of wonder imsupported by experience, credit still
continues to be attached to the traditions of early history, as
though the sanction of antiquity were sufficient to entitle im-
possibilities to implicit belief. A pure fable is credited, allego-
ries are taken as real events, and no one dares to withdraw the
veil which clothes substantial facts in an almost transparent
allegory : as few Romans in the Augustan age would venture to
doubt the miraculous kindness of their foimder's wolf, or the
real existence of the Egerian nymph. The religion of the
Greeks bears the evidence of having been formed upon popular
legends, or fairy tales, tc which a superstructure derived from
metaphysical speculation was afterwards added, and though many
of their deities were of Egyptian origin,^ the office and character
1 This was also the opinion of the learned 66, 67. 76, 80, 83, &1, 115, 118, 121, 189,
Larcher. 303, <fec.
■■i Banier, Mrthol. vol. i. pp. 2.J, 28, 44,
Chap. Xll.] ABbEXCE OF HISTORIC FABLE. 499
of some seem rather attributable to accidental analogy, dis-
covered at a subsequent period with those of the Egyptians, and
other people whose religion had been long modelled into a
systematic form, than to any positive notions they previously
had upon the subject. And thus we may account for the incon-
sistency of Jupiter being considered the same as Amen, one of
the eight great gods of Egypt, and Saturn his lacher as one of
the second order of deities ; an error which originated in Seb
being the parent of Osi^' ■ and Isis, and having in Egypt the
title of 'Father of the Gods/
Many of their popular legends may have been the offspring
of foreign notions, accidentally received from other people,
and altered by time or local prejudices: and when we recollect
that the m^'thology of Greece was chiefly invented, or at
least arranged, by the poets, we may readily account for the
unsubstantial texture of its construction.
In the history of Greece, the admission of mythological tales
was much more resorted to than in that of Rome, where events
may be more readily traced than in the fabulous accounts of
Greek writers : and though the Romans sacrificed truth to their
excessive vanity in many statements put forth in their early
history, they did not permit the adventures of the gods to form
part of the actions of men. in order to account for ordinary
occurrences, or to ennoble the pedigree of simple individuals.
The same remark applies to the history of the Egvptians , and,
however they may have clothed the mysteries of their religion
in allegorical fable, they neither derived their origin from
deities, nor degraded the nature of the Divinity by bringing it
down to the level of mankind. But if historical fable did not
form part of tlie belief of the Egyptians, and if their religious
system was distinct from the records of past events, allegory
and moral fable were admitted without reserve, and physical
emblems were used as the representatives of abstract notions
Indeed, though the main feature of their religion was meta-
physical speculation, we find that physical objects entered into
the sj'stem ; and it is probable that the worship of external
objects, as the sun and other heavenly bodies, formed at an early
period a principal part of their religious worship. The two main
principles on which the religion of Egypt was based, appear to
be, the existence of an Omnipotent Being, whose various at-
tributes being deified, formed a series of divinities, each wor-
shipped under its own peculiar form, and supposed to possess its
500 THJt; ANCIENT EGYPTIAN.- IChap.XII.
particular office : and the deitication of the suu and moon, from
which it might appear that a sort of Sabsean worship had once
formed part of the Egyptian creed.
The snn, being the chief of heavenly bodies, was considered
a fit type of dominion and power; and the idea of an intellectual
sun was merelj the union of the abstract notion of a primary
agent with the apparent and visible object.^ For the sun was
both a physical and metaphysical deity, and under these two
characters were worshipped Ra and Amen-ra, the real sun, the
rider of the world, in the firmament, and the ideal ruler of the
universe as king of the gods. Of the allegorical portion- of
their religion we have frequent instances, as in the story of Isis
and Osiris, whose supposed adventures, according to one inter-
pretation, represented the Nile and its inundation : and nume-
rous other natural phenomena were in like manner t}'pified by
figurative or emblematical conceits. The gods had also their
peculiar symbols, which frequently stood not only for name,
but also for the figure, of the deity they indicated ; as the
Cynocephalus ape was the sign and substitute for Thoth; the
hawk and globe indicated the Sun, and the crocodile was the
representative of the god Sebak. Nor were moral emblems
wanting in the religion of the Egyptians ; the figure of Justice
with her eyes closed purported that men were to be guided by
impartiality in their duties towards their neighbors ; the rat
in the hand of the statue of Sethos at Memphis recorded a
supposed miracle, and urged men to confide in the deity ; and
the tender solicitude of Isis for her husband was held up as an
example worthy the emulation of every wife. Many were the
allegorical and symbolical beings who formed part of their
• According: to the later mytholojry, Nu, builder of mankind As the attractor of
the primordiafwater, was that out of 'which Iijrht and the hidden forces of nature, he
the ffods and all thinffs sprang. In that becomes Amen the Occult, and as the hene-
pnmeval chaos he formed himself . he was ficent beinu- of the world, Osiris. The
the only one, he who exists by his essence ; same deity said to the sun, ' Come to me,'
the only one who lives in matter, the only and at his orders Sh''. separated the earth
generator in heaven and earth who has not and waters into two masses, the celestial
been enjrendered, ' the father of fathers and terrestrial, and excited the hostility of
and mother of mothers.' It has been sup- the powers ol evil. There was conse-
posed tliat the jrods sprang or emanated qucntly the celestial and terrestrial Nile
from him, and that he represented in him- struggling against the desert, the assimila-
self a kind ol trinity of father, mother, and tion and identity with the sun, which was
son. He created his own limbs, which associated with the principal deities of the
were the gods, and from him proceedetl Pantheon in its diurnal and nocturnal
the local triads. Hence proceeded the course. (Maspero, 'Hist. Ancienne des
inferior deities or demiurgi : Piah, the Pcuples de i'Orient," p. 62. > — S. B.
creator of the sun and moon; Tum, or - Banicr, Mytho'og. vol. i. c. iii. p. 52,
Atum, the creator of things visible and in- on the fables of the Greeks ; and p. 175, on
visible; and Chnoumis, the creator or the iheogony of Egypt.
Chap. XII.] AXTIQUITY OF EGYPTIAN RELIGION. 501
Pantheon ; and not only was every attribute of the Divinity
made into a separate deity, but genii, or imaginary gods, were
invented to assume some office, either in relation to the duties
or future state of mankind. Even the genius of a town, a river,
or a district, was created in imagination, and worshipped as a
god ; and every month and day, says Herodotus,^ were conse-
crated to a particular deity. It may reasonably be supposed
tliat in early times the religion of Egypt was more simple, and
free from the complicated host of fanciful beings who at a later
period filled a station in the catalogue of their gods ; and that
the only objects of worship in the valley of the Xile were, 1st,
the deified attributes of the Creative Power, and of the di\dne
intellect; 2d, the sun and moon, whose visible power has so
generally been an object of veneration among mankind in the
early ages of the world ; and, 3d, we may add, the president of
that future state to wliich the souls of the dead were supposed to
pass after they had left their earthly envelope. It is difficult
to decide whether the Egyptians had originally the belief in
a future state, or if the immortality of the soul was a doctrine
suggested at a later period, when philosophy had remodelled
their religious notions ; suffice it to sa}^ that the oldest monu-
ments which remain bear ample evidence of its having been
their belief at the earliest ]3eriods of which any records exist,
and Osiris the judge and president of Amenti is mentioned in
tombs belonging to contemporaries of the kings who erected the
Pyramids, upwards of 2,000 years before our era. Indeed, if at
anv earl}' period the religion of Egypt bore a different character,
or if any great change took place in its doctrines, this must have
been long before the foundation of the monuments that remain ;
and, with the exception of some addition to the catalogue of
minor deities, and an alteration in the name of Amen,^ we
^)erceive no change in the religion from the earliest times to the
reigns of the Ptolemies and Csesars.^ That several genii, or
minor gods, partieuhirly those who were supposed to perform
inferior functions in a future state, and some local divinities,
were added at various periods, is highly probable, but no
change appears to liave taken place in the form of worship,
or in the main tenets of the religion : the ceremonies of the
temple may have become more splendid, the offerings more
1 Herodot. ii. 82. that in very early times the E^-ptians had
2 I shall have occasion to mention this a sort of sylvan worship lon^ before the
afterwards in chapter xiii. religion was formed of which we see the
3 [There is, however, reason to believe existing records. — G. W.]
502 THE AXCIEXT EGYPTIANS. [Chap. XII.
rich, or the increased dimensions of the temples may have
admitted a Larger number of contemplar gods ; and in the
times of the Ptolemies and Ctesars the rites of Osiris may liave
become more generally jDreferred : but no change was effected
in the religion itself,^ and the preference given to any peculiar
deity was only what had always happened in Egypt, where each
town or district paid the greatest honors to the god who was
supposed immediately to preside over it. Even the alteration
which took place in the name of Amen, and the introduction of
the worship of the sun with rays, represented at Tel el Amarna
and some other j^laces, about the time of the 18th Dynasty,
cannot be looked upon as changes in the religion ; and Sarapis,
of foreign introduction, was obliged to conform to the customs of
the Pantheon, to which he was rather attached than admitted,
by the caprice of a foreign monarch. Unfortunately, an im-
penetrable veil, concealing from our view the earliest periods of
Egyptian history, forbids us to ascertain the original character
of the religion ; we are introduced to it as to the civilization of
that people, when already fully perfected ; and we can oidy
speculate on its previous condition, before metaphysical theories
had modelled it into the form in which we now behold it in the
sculptures of the existing monuments. Before we proceed to
inquire into the nature and attributes of the gods, it may not be
improper to examine the opinions of Greek writers respecting
the theogony of Egypt. Diodorus,^ who seems to borrow his
ideas respecting the creation of the world from the Egyptians,
says, that in the beginning the heavens and earth had only one
form, being united in their nature ; but having become separated
afterwards, the world took the character we now behold. By the
movement of the atmos[)here the igneous parts rose, which gave
to the sun and other heavenly bodies their rotary movement ;
and a solid matter was precipitated to form the sea and earth,
from which fish and animals were produced, nearly in the same
manner as we still see in Egypt, where an infinity of insects and
other creatures come forth from the mud, after it has been
inundated by the waters of the Nile.^ ' Eusebius,' as the Abbe
Banier remarks, 'has justly observed that this system, as well as
1 In i^'cneral terms, but the following speakinjj' or 'justified,' which involve the
extension of the Osiris worship took place judjrment of the dead, come in at the same
by deirrees : the dead were associateil with time. — S. IJ.
him, and had his name preferred to theirs, - Diodor. ii. 7.
which does not appear till the 18th Dynasty ^ Ovid. Met. i. 8, v. 422; and Plin. ix.
in general use ; and the terms ' truth- 58.
CiiAP. Xll. ! COSMOGONY. 503
that of the Phcienicians, which is derived from the same source,
gives to tlie Creator no part in the formation of the universe.
To confirm liis opinion, he quotes a passage of Porphyry, wlio, in
his epistle to Anebo, an Egyptian priest, writes,^ that Chseremon
and others had thought that nothing was anterior to this visible
world : that the planets and stars were the real gods of the Egyp-
tians, and that the sun ought to be looked upon as the guardian
of the universe ; and it may be remarked that the summaiy of
Egyptian theology given by Diogenes Laertius from Manetho
and Hecatseus is in the same spirit, which considers that matter
was the first principle, and the sun and moon the first deities, of
that people. It has, however, been shown from Eusebius, that
the Egyptians believed in an intelligent Being called Kneph,
who presided over the formation of the woj'ld Porphyry states
that they represented him under the figure of a man holding a
girdle and a sceptre, with large feathers on his head, from whose
mouth an egg proceeded, out of which another deit}^ came, called
by them Phtha. and by the Greeks Vulcan ; and according to their
explanation of this mysterious figure, the feathers denoted the
hidden and invisible nature of this intelligence, the power it had
of giving life, the dominion overall things, and the spirituality of
its movements; and the egg which came from his mouth indi-
cated the world, of which he was the maker. This opinion is
confirmed by the testimony of lamblichus, who, in the time of
Eusebius, applied himself to the study of Egyptian theology,
and who endeavors to prove what Chceremon had stated, that
the general belief of the Egyptians was not that an inanimate
being was the cause of all things, but that in the world, as well
as in ourselves, they recognized the soul superior to nature, and
the intelligence which created the world superior to the soul.'
But I have already shown how unsatisfactory are the opinions
of Greek writers respecting the religion of the Egyptians : and,
with the exception of a few notions, which may be gleaned
from the tenets of those who had studied and were initiated
into the mysteries of Egypt, little can be learnt of their
philosophy, or their religious system. lamblichus, Plato, and
some others, indeed, have contributed to throw some light on
the subject, and the former gives the following account of the
cosmogony of Egypt from the ancient Hermetic books: 'Before
all things that essentially exist,^ and before the total principles,
1 Cory, ' Frajiments, p. 237. valuable collection of '.Ancient Fragments,'
2 This is the trar..«lation ^^iven in Cory's p. 283.
504 THE ANCIENT EGYPTIANS. [Chap. XII.
there is one God, prior to the first god and king, remaining
immovable in the solitude of his Unity; for neither is the
Intelligible inmixed with him, nor is any other thing. He is
established, the exemplar of the God who is the father of himself,
self-begotten, the only father, who is truly good. For he is
something greater, and the first, the fountain of all things, and
the root of all primary intelligible existing forms. But out of
this one, the self-ruling God made himself shine forth; wherefore
he is the father of himself, and self-ruling: for he is the first
Principle, and God of gods. He is the Monad from the One,
before essence, yet the first principle of essence, for from him is
entity and essence; on which account he is celebrated as the
chief of the Intel ligibles. These are the most ancient principles
of all things, which Hermes places first in order, before the
ethereal and empyrean gods, and the celestial. But, according to
another division, he (Hermes) places the god Emeph ^ as the ruler
of the celestial gods ; and says that he is Intellect, understanding
himself, and converting other intelligences to himself. And before
this he places the indivisible One, which he calls the first Effigies,
denominating him Eicton ; in whom, indeed, is the first Intellect,
and the first Intelligible , and this One is venerated in Silence.
Besides these, other rulers are imagined to exist, which govern the
fabrication of things apparent ; for the Demiurgos, Intellect, which
properly presides over truth and wisdom, when it proceeds to
generation, and leads forth into light the inapparent power of the
secret reasons, is called Am8n, according to the Egyptian tongue ;
and when it perfects all things not deceptively, but artificially
according to truth, Phtha : but the Greeks change the word Phtha
into Hephsestus, looking only to the artificial ; regarded as the
producer of good things, it is called Osiris ; and, according to its
other powers and attributes, it has different appellations. There
is also, according to them, another certain principle presiding
over all the elements in a state of generation, and over the
powers inherent in them, four of which are male and four female ;
and this principle they attribute to the sun. There is yet another
principle of all nature, regarded as the ruler over generation, and
this they assign to the moon. They divide the heavens also into
two parts, or into four, twelve, or thirty-six, or the doubles of
these ; they attribute to them leaders more or less in number,
and over them they place one whom they consider superior to
1 Generally supposed to be a mistake for Kneph.
Chap. XII.] COSMOGONY OF lAMBLICHUS. 505
them all. Hence, from the highest to the last, the doctrine of
the Egyptians concerning the princii)Ies inculcates the origin
of all things from One,^ with different gradations to the many ;
which (the many) are again held to be under the supreme govern-
ment of the One ; and the nature of the Boundless is considered
entirely subservient to the nature of the Bounded, and the
Supreme Unity the cause of all things. And God produced
matter from the materiality of the separated essence, which,
being of a vivific nature, the Demiurgos took it, and fabricated
from it the harmonious and imperturbable spheres ; but the dregs
of it he employed in the fabrication of generated and perishable
bodies.' ^ Another idea of the origin of things is thus explained
in what are termed the modern Hermetic books : ' The glory of
all things is God, and Deity, and divine Nature. The principle
of all things existing is God, and the intellect, and nature, and
matter, and energy, and Fate and conclusion and renovatioii. For
these were boundless darkness in the abyss, and water, and a
subtile Spirit, intellectual in power, existing in Chaos. But the
holy light broke forth, and the Elements were produced from
among the sand of a watery Essence.' ^
lamblichus says,"^ that ' Chseremon and some others, who treat
of the first causes of the phenomena of the world, enumerate in
reality only the loivest principles ; and those who mention the
planets, the zodiac, the dreams, and horoscopes, and the stars
termed mighty chiefs, confine themselves to particular depart-
ments of the productive causes. Such topics, indeed, as are
contained in the Almanacs, constitute but a very small part of
the institutions of Hermes ; and all that relates to the apparitions
or occultations of the stars, or the increasings or wanings of the
moon, has the loivest place in the Egyptian doctrine of causes.
Nor do the Egyptians resolve all things into physical qualities ; but
they distinguish both the animal and intellectual life from nature
itself, not only in the universe, but in man. They consider
intellect and reason in the first place, as existing by themselves,
and on this principle they account for the creation of the world.'
He also states, that ' they rank first the Demiurgos, as the parent
of all things which are produced, and acknowledge that vital
energy which is [ ior to, and subsists in, the heavens, placing
1 'Homer even exempts the demiurtfic 2 lamblichus, sect. viii. c. 2, 3.
nionatl from all the multitude of 'i'ods.' 3 germ. Sac. lib. iii. Cory, p. 286.
(Taylor's Introduct. to Plato's Republic, p. ^ lamblichus, sect. viii. c. 4.
147.")
506 THE ANCIENT EGYPTIANS. |Cuai- XII.
pure intellect at the head of the universe ; and they allot one
invisible soul to the whole world, and another divided one to all
the spheres.'
I now extract a few observations respecting the outlines of
the principal dogmas of Plato, from the Introductory Essay of
his translator.^ ' According to Plato, the highest God, whom in
the Republic he calls good., and in the Parmenides the one^ is not
only above soul and intellect, but is even superior to being itself.
Hence, since everything which can in any respect be known, or
of which anything can be asserted, must be connected with the
universality of things, but the first cause being above all things, it
is very properly said by Plato to be perfectly ineffable. The first
hypothesis, therefore, of his Parmenides, in which all things are
denied of this immense principle, concludes as follows : — The one,
therefore, is in no respect. So it seems. Hence it is not in such
a manner as to he one, for thus it would be being, and participate
of essence ; but as it appears, the one neither is one, nor is, if it be
proper to believe in reasoning of this kind. It appears so. But
can anything either belong to, or be affirmed of, that which is
not ? How can it ? Neither, therefore, does any name belong to
it, nor discourse, nor any science, nor sense, nor opinion. It does
not appear that there can. Hence it can neither be named, nor
spoken of, nor conceived by opinion,\\ov be known, nov perceived by
any being. So it seems. . . . Prior to the one, therefore, is that
which is simply and perfectly ineffable, without position, unco
ordinated, and incapable of being apprehended. . . . From this truly
ineffable principle, exempt from all essence, power, and energy, a
multitude of divine natures, according to Plato, immediately
proceed. ... He affirms (in the sixth book of his Republic),
that the good, or the ineffable principle of things, is superessential,
and shows the analogy of the sun to the good; that what light and
sight are in the visible, truth and intelligence are in the intelligible
world. As light, therefore, immediately proceeds from the sun,
and wholly subsists according to a solar idiom or property, so
truth, or the immediate progeny of the good, must subsist according
to a superessential idiom. And as the good, according to Plato,
is the same with the one, the immediate progeny of the one will be
■ the same as that of the good. . . . Self-subsistent superessential
natures are the immediate progeny of the one, if it be lawful thus
to denominate things which ought rather to be called ineffable
1 Taylor's Trans, of Plato, Introd. p. v
Chap. XII. J DOCTRINES OF PLATO. 507
unfoldings into light, from the ineffable ; for progeny implies a
producing cause, and the one must be conceived as something
even more excellent than this. From this divine self perfect
and self-producing multitude, a series of self-perfect natures, viz.
of beings, lives, intellects, and souls, proceeds, according to Plato,
in the last link of which luminous series he also classes the
human soul,^ proximately suspended from the demoniacal order;
for this order, he clearly asserts in the Banquet,^ ' stands in the
middle rank between the divine and human, fills up the vacant
space and links together all intelligent nature.'
According to Piato,-^ the Egyptians supposed the world to be
subject to occasional deluges and conflagrations, as a punishment
for the wickedness of mankind; and the returns of the great
catastrophe were fixed by them according to the period of their
great year^ ' which Aristotle calls the greatest, rather than the
great,' when the sun and moon and all the planets returned to
the same sign whence they started : ' the winter of which year
was the deluge, and its summer the conflagration of the world.' ^
The notion of the deterioration of man, and the fables of the
golden and iron ages, were also of Egyptian origin ; and the
story of the Atlantic Island ^having been submerged, was said to
have been derived by Solon from the same source. Plato sup-
posed that the Deity delegated the power of creating to beings
inferior to himself, de._ -minated demons ; perhaps, with the
notion that man alone, who was exclusively gifted with intellect,
was the work of the Deity himself; and Plutarch,^ in speaking of
these intermediate beings, observes, ' that some suppose what is
related of Isis, Osiris, and T3'pho, to be the adventures of the
grand demons or genii ; an order of beings which some of the
wisest of the Greek phi! osophers, as Plato, Pythagoras, Xenocrates,
and Chrysippus, agreeably to what they learnt from the ancient
theologists, believed to be much more powerful than mankind, and
of a nature superior to them, though inferior to the pure nature of
the gods, as partaking of the sensations of the body as well as
of the perceptions of the soul, and consequently liable to pain or
pleasure, and to all other appetites and affections ; which affec-
tions were supposed to have a greater influence over some than
others, different degrees of virtue and vice being found in these.
1 Plato, Timaens, p. 508 et seq. * Censorin. de Die Nat.
2 See also a copious account of the 5 piato, Tim. p. 469, Taylor's Trausl. ;
nature oC demons, in the note at the beg'in- and Critias.
ning of the first Alcibiades 6 Plut. de Isid. s. 25. .
3 Plato, Critias.
508 THE ANCIENT EGYPTIANS. |Chaj- XII.
genii, as in man.' According to Plato, they were 'a middle
order of beings between gods and men interpreters of the will
of the former to mankind, ministering to their wants, carryino-
their pra3'ers to heaven, and bringing down from thence, in re-
turn, oracles and all other blessings of life ; ' and, as Empedocles
supposed, ' obnoxious to punishment for whatever crimes they
committed, until, having undergone their distinct punishment,
and thereby become pure, they were again admitted to their
primitive situation, in the region originally designed for them.'
Of the Pj^thagorean doctrines, which were prinei]^)ally borrowed
from Egypt, a sunnnary account is given by Timffius the Locrian.^
'The causes of all things are two — intellect, of those which
are produced according to reason ; and necessity, of those
which necessarily exist according to the powers of bodies. Of
these, the first is of the nature of good, and is called God, the
principle of such things as are most excellent. Those which are
consequent, and concauses, rather than causes, may be referred
to necessity, and they consist of Idea, or Form, and Matter, to
which may be added the sensible world, which is, as it were, the
offspring of these two. The first of these is an essence ungene-
rated, immovable, and stable, of the nature of Sameness, and the
intelligible exemplar of things generated, which are in a state
of perpetual change ; this is called Idea or Form, and is tO'
be comprehended only by Mind. But Matter is the receptacle of
Form, the mother and female principle of the generation of the
third Essence ; for by receiving the likenesses upon itself, and
being stamped with Form, it perfects all things, partaking of
the nature of generation. And this matter, he says, is eternal,
movable, and of its own proper nature, without form or figure,
yet susceptible of receiving every form ; it is divisible also about
bodies, and is of the nature of Different. They also call matter
" Place and Situation." These two, therefore, are contrary
principles : Idea or Form is of the nature of male and father ; but
Matter, of the nature of female and mother ; and things which
are of the third nature, are the offspring of the two. Since, then,
there are three natures, they are comprehended in three different
ways : Idea, which is the object of science, by Intellect ; Matter,
which is not properly an object of comprehension, but only of
analogy, by a spurious kind of reasoning ; but things compounded
of the two are the objects of sensation and opinion, or appearance.
1 Cory, p. 301.
Ckap. XII. I PYTHAGOREAN DOCTRINES. 509
Therefore, before the heaven was made, there existed in reality
Idea, and Matter, and God, tlie demiurgos of the better nature ;
and since the nature of Elder (continuance) is more worthy than
that of Younger (novelty), and order than of disorder ; God
in his Goodness, seeing that Matter was continually receiving
form, and changing in an omnifarious and disordered manner,
undertook to reduce it to order, and put a stop to its indeiinite
changes by circumscribing it with a determinate figure ; that
there might be corresponding distinctions of bodies, and that
it might not be subject to continual variations of its own
accord. Therefore he fabricated this world out of all the mat-
ter, and constituted it the boundary of essential nature, com-
prising all things witiiin itself, one, only-begotten, perfect, with
a soul and intellect (for an animal so constituted is superior to
one devoid of soul and intellect) : he gave it also a spherical
body, for such of all other forms is the most perfect. Since,
therefore, it was God's pleasure to render this his production
most perfect, he constituted it a god, generated indeed, but in-
destructible by any other cause than by the God who made it,
in case it should be his pleasure to dissolve it.'
From the statement of lamblichus we perceive that the
i\Ionad or deity in Unit}* preceded the Trinity or Triad by which
all things were created, and that what was denominated the
first God, or King of the Gods, also xisted, like the Monad,
before the formation of the world These deities are, there-
fore, 1st, The God, the Monad, or deit}' in Unit}' ; 2d, The first
God, or first principle, chief of Intelligibles : or, 1st, Eicton,
the first effigies, the indivisible one; 2d, Emeph (Kneph?) the
ruler of the gods. Intellect, understanding himself. This Intel-
lect, when it proceeds to generation, is called Amen, the demi-
urgic Intellect ; Ptah, when it perfects all things with truth ;
or Osiris, when regarded as the author of good ; or other names
according to its different offices and powers. There are also
the ]n-inciples presiding over the elements in a state of genera-
tion, and over the powers in them, four of which are male and
four female , one of them being the sun, and another the moon.
Then follows another class of the rulers of the heavens, which
is divided into two parts.
' Prichard thinks that Ptah ' is the masculo-feminine Being
of the Orphic philosophy, produced in the Chaotic Egg and
acting upon its elements ; ' and quotes this passage of Horapollc
in support of his opinion . ''The world seems to the Egyptians
510 THE ANCIENT EGYPTIANS. [Chap. XII.
to consist of a masculine and feminine nature, and they des-
ignate Minerva by a vulture (and a beetle), and Vulcan by a
beetle (and a vulture) ; for these are the only gods which are
represented by the Egyptians as having a double nature, or as
being both masculine and feminine." ^ He thence concludes
with Jablonski, that *the goddess whom the Greeks call Mi-
nerva, and who was worshipped at Sais, was the counterpart of
Phthas, or the same Being in his feminine character.* But this
is not supported b}' the evidence of the monuments, nor is
there any relation between Ptah and the Egyptian Minerva.
I have here, and in other places, introduced several theories
of Greek and Roman writers on the subject of mythology, and
have mentioned some of the speculations of philosophers who
studied in or visited Egypt. But I must not omit to observe
that the opinions of late writers, as Porphyry, lamblichus,
Proclus, and all the Neo-Platonists of the Alexandrian school,
should be admitted with considerable caution. Though many
of their speculations were derived from an Egyptian source,
the original was often even more than parce distorta ; and no
doctrine of theirs can be accepted as illustrative of Egyptian
notions, which is not confirmed by the monuments, or expressly
stated to be taken from the philosophy, of Egypt.
The works of Plato and other more ancient writers evidently
contain much that owes its origin to the knowledge they acquired
from the Egyptians, and Pythagoras imitated many notions of
his instructors with scrupulous precision. Such authorities are
of the greatest use in the examination of the dogmas of this
people, and they had the advantage of studying them at a time
and place in which religion was not exposed to fanciful innova-
tions. But when it had been encumbered with the superstructure
of arbitrary fancy which the schools of Alexandria heaped upon
it, the original form became distorted, meanings were attached to
various symbols which they never possessed, and the attributes
of one deity were ignorautly assigned to another of a totally
different character. I have already had occasion to notice the
misconceptions of the Greeks and Romans on the most ordinary
subjects connected with the religion of Egypt ; and little reliance
can be placed upon their information respecting the abstruse and
recondite speculations of the Egyptian philosophers, when they
changed the very forms of well-known deities, and mistook the
1 Hoiapollo, lib. i c. 12.
Chap. XII.] COMPARISON OF GREEK ACCOUNTS. 511
attributes of those which were presented to them on every
monument. •
I now proceed to compare the statements of Herodotus and
others with data derived from the monuments. If it be true that
the number of the great gods of the Egyptians was limited to
eight, we ma}^ suppose them to be —
1. Neph, or Kneph. 5. Sati.
2. Amen, or Ara.en-ra. 6. Mut (or perhaps Buto).
3. Phthah, Pthah, or Ptah. 7. Bubastis.
4. Khem. 8. Xeith.
Ea, the j)hysical sun, might also appear to enjo}- an equal
claim to a rank among the great gods of Eg3'pt : and in a
former work ^ I have introduced that deity instead of Bubastis ;
but it is more probable that Amen-ra and Ra were not of the
same class of deities, as the intellectual was of a more exalted
nature than the ph3\sical sun. From Ra proceeded a number
of other deities, and the most remarkable of those styled the
offspring of the sun are the goddess of truth or justice, Shu,
Tafnut, Selk, and Nahamua.
Herodotus mentions the eight great gods, but without giving
their names. He states, however, that Pan ^ (Khem) and Latoiia ^
(Buto) were among the number, and that to the eight great
gods succeeded twelve others of inferior rank, who were followed
by the minor deities. These last consisted of many different
grades, according to their character and office ; and besides the
heavenly and infernal deities, were genii of various kinds, as well
as inferior divinities, worshipped in particular places, or by
certain individuals. Diodorus* seems to agree in the number
of eight great gods;^ gi^'big the names of 'the Sun, Saturn,
Rhea. Jupiter (called by some- Amnion), Juno, Vulcan, Vesta,
and ^lercury.' Chseremon thinks they were ten. Twelve and
eight were the numbers applied to th-;^ Dii Consentes and
Selecti of the Romans ; but of these the twelve held the first
rank.
From Seb also, who was confounded by the Greeks with
Saturn, other gods proceeded, and the offspring of this deity and
Nut were Osiris, Isis, Aroeris, Typho, and Xephthys. Accord-
ing to Manetho's Chronology, given by Syncellus, two dynasties
1 ' Materia Hiero<;lyphica,' p. 2. * Diodor. i. 13.
2 Herodot. ii. 145. ' 5 Though not directlv stated, he evi-
5 Ibid. ii. 156. dentlv means the gods of'Egvpt.
512
THE ANCIENT EGYPTIANS.
[Chap. XII.
of sixteen deities preceded the first kings of Egypt ; one con-
sisting of seven gods, the other of nine demigods.
Gods.
Years. Days.
Vulcan, who reigned
. 7244 and 4
The Sun
. 86
Agathodsemon
. 56i and 10
Chronus, Saturn .
. m
Osiris /
Isis )
. 35
Typho.
. 29
Demigods.
Years
Horus, who reigned
. 25
Mars .
. 23
Anubis
. 17
Hercules
. 15
Apollo
. 25
Amnion
. 30
Tithoes
- 27
Zosus .
. 32
Zeus .
. 20
The usual mode of accounting for this reign of the gods is
by referring it to the time during which the priests of each deity
held the supreme authority, when Egypt was governed by a
hierarchy, previous to the election of a king ; but great doubts
are thrown on the accuracy of this list of deities from its incon-
sistency, the names of some of the great gods being classed in
the order of demigods.
It were to be wished that more dependence could be placed
on the accounts of Herodotus and other Greek writers ; but when
they so erroneously suppose that the statues of the Theban
Jupiter, Amen, 'represented him with the head of a ram,' ^ and
that ' Pan was called Mendes ^ by the Egyptians, and ' figured
by them, as by the Greeks, with the head and legs of a goat,' we
must despair of obtaining correct information upon the subject
before us, and only receive their evidence after cautious investi-
gation. That Neptune and the Dioscuri were not known ^ to the
Egyptians is very probable ; and another remark of Herodotus is
equally consistent, that ' Isis was the greatest of all the deities,' *
and that she enjoyed with Osii-is the same honors throughout
every part of Egypt, a privilege not granted to the other gods.^
But he has confounded Pan, whom he allows to be one of the
eight gods,^ with Mentu," an inferior deity ; and Bubastis,
Diana, was not, as he affirms, the daughter of Isis and Osiris.*
These instances of inaccuracy suffice to make us careful in
taking so dubious an authority ; and we cannot even be certain
that Buto held the rank he gives her among the first class
of deities.^
If in every town or district of Egypt the principal temple
1 Herodot. ii. 42.
2 Ibid. ii. 46. [Mendes is now recog-
nized as tlie goat-headed Ba-en-tattu, owing
to the interoliange of the M and the B;
Ma-en-tattu approaching the Greek Mendes.
— S.B.J
3 Herodot. ii. 43 and 50.
4 Ibid. ii. 40.
5 Ihid. ii. 42
G Ibid. ii. 145.
7 Ibid. ii. 46
8 Ibid. li. 156.
9 Ibid.
Chap. XII. I THE TRIADS. 513
had been preserved, we might discover the nature of the triad
worshipped there, as well as the name of the chief deity who
[)resided in it, and thus become better acquainted with the
character of the great gods, and of most of the persons composing
the numerous Egyptian triads. Few, however, can now be ascer-
tained ; and in Lower Egypt and the Delta little information is
offered by tlie imperfect remnants of isolated monuments.
At Thebes,
The great triad consisted of Amen or Amen-ra, Mut,
and Khonsu.
The smaller triad, of Amen the Generator, Tamen,
and the young Harka.
At Syene, Elephantine, and the Cataracts,
Kneph, Satis (Juno), and Anoukis (Vesta)o
At Philse,
Osiris, Isis, and Horus or Harpocrates.
At Edfoo or Apollinopolis Magna,
Har-hat, Athor, and Har-semt-ta.
At Esneh or Latopolis,
Chnoumis, Nebuu (a form of Neith), and Hak.t.
At Silsilis,
Ra, Ptah, and Nilus : where also are Typho, Thoth,
and Nut ; and Amen-ra, Ra, and Sebak.
At the quarries of the Troici lapidis, near iMaasara,
Thoth, Nahamua, and Horus or Aroeris.
At Ombos,
The great triad consisted of Sebak, Athor, and Khonsu.
The lesser triad, of Horus or Aroeris, Sen-t-nofre, and
the young Pneb-ta.
At Hermonthis,
Mentu, Ra-ta, and their child, Har-para.
The funeral triad, composed of Osiris, Isis, and Nephthys,
occurs in all the tombs throughout the country ; and many
others, variously combined, in different towns and provinces of
Egypt. I have also seen a triad represented on a stone, con-
sisting of Ra, Agathodsemon or a winged asp, and a goddess
apparently with a frog's head ; in a Greek inscription upon the
reverse of which mention is made of Bait, Athor, and Akori.
Bait seems to be the Baieth of Horapollo ; but it is not easy
to assign the Greek names to each figure on the obverse ; and as
it is of late time, the authority both of these and of the Greek
VOL. II. 33
514
THE ANCIENT EGYPTIANS.
[Chap. XH.
names is of very little weight. The inscription, however, is
curious, from the analogy it bears to some of those ascribed to
the early Christian Gnostics, and serves to show the idea enter-
tained by the pagan Egyptians of a 'triformous deity,' 'the
father of the world,' who assumed different names according to
the triad under which he was represented.
No. 494. Stone representing a triad in these words : ' One Bait, one Athor(oneof the Bia),
and one Akori. Hail, father of the world ! hail, triformous god ! ' in elegaic verse.i
British Museum.
The great triads were composed of the principal deities, the
first two members being frequently of equal rank, and the third,
which proceeded from the first by the second, being subordinate
to the others , as in the case of Osiris, Isis, and Horns, or Amen,
Mut, and Khonsu. Other triads were formed of deities of an
inferior class ; and it sometimes happened that, with the unworthy
feeling of paying a high compliment to the ruling monarch, a
sort of triad was composed of two deities and the king, as at
Thebes, where Rameses III. is placed between Osiris and Ptah ;
at Aboukeshayd,- where the Great Rameses occurs between Ra
and Atmu ; and others in other places. At Silsilis, the King
Ptahmen, Meneptah, offers to a triad composed of Osiris, Isis,
and Rameses the Great, the latter taking the place of Horus, to
whom the Egyptian kings were frequently likened ; and to such
a point was this degradation of religion carried in the time of the
Ptolemies, that at Hermonthis a triad composed of Julius Csesar,
Cleopatra, and Neoccesar, their illegitimate son, took the place ^
' [Others think it is, ' Thou art Bait (the
soul) ; thou art Athor, one of the Bia; and
thou art Akori (the viper). Hail, lather
of the world ! hail, triform god ! ' and they
think that the Greek inscription may be of
later time, when the stone was used as an
Abraxis. Col. Leake was of opinion that
the trinity named BIA consisted of Buto,
Isis, and Athor = Lato, Dcmeter, and
Aphrodite = Latona, Ceres, and Venus,
the words tiia tZv BIA implying that the
trinity were all females. — G. W.]
- On the Suez canal. A copy of the
stone containing these three figures is
given in ' Materia Hieroglj'phica,' Ap-
pendix No. 4.
3 ChampoUion, Lettres viii. and xii.,
pp. 106 and 206 [who was the first to notice
the triads. — G. W.].
Chap. XII.l
THE TRIADS.
515
of the three deities, Mentii, Ra-ta, and Har-para, worshipped in
that city.
With regard to the former of these comljinations, in whicn a
king is represented as proceeding from two deities and forming
the third person of a triad, some excuse may be offered, upon the
plea of their selecting the most important result of the power of
the Deity, upon this principle : the influence of Intellect on matter
producing the created being in the king ; and tliis the noblest ivork
of the Creator being put forth in lieu of the whole creation. But
the same apology cannot be offered for the latter ; and to the
servile flattery of some members of the priesthood, and to the
abuses introduced under the Ptolemies, is to be attributed this
great profanation of the religious customs of the Egyptians.
i)^^^^
i^ri
Ko. 495.
Otferings of onions made hy a priest to his deceased parents.
The inscriptions are as follows: The seated male figure is ' his brother, priest of Amen,
Har-a, surnamed Kairu, truth-speaking,' deceased, and at his side is ' his sister, the lady
of the house,' a married woman, ' Ta-ari, truth-speaking.' The priest offering the
bunch of onions is ' his son, a chancellor of Ameu, Bak eu ameu.' This is taken from a
tablet where other figures appear. — S. B.
END OF VOL. IL
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